The Bible tells us what a Christian should look like, but the reality is that what God calls us to be does not come naturally. Let’s just consider what God says about love. Jesus said that love is a virtual Christian badge, and that this is how men should know that we are one of His disciples (John 13:35). Of course, we are not talking about the kind of love we see in Hollywood movies, but the kind of love God Himself shows us in the Bible–the kind of love that gives even to the point of sacrifice (John 3:16). This is the kind of love that lays self down even to the point of death for the needs of others (1 John 4:10). The Bible shows us that the eternal Son of God saw the needs of condemned sinners and He took human flesh to bear the penalty of man’s sin on the cross (Phil. 2:5-9). Eternal God became man to die for the sins of others. This sacrifice shows us the supreme example of what God’s love looks like. Paul tells us that this is the way Christians are supposed to think, too. God’s command is that we are to both regard others as more important than ourselves (Phil. 2:3) and be willing to take action in meeting the needs of others (Phil. 2:4). This, of course, does not come naturally. The natural path is to be takers and not givers . . . but this is not the way of love. The Bible says that if we draw close to the Lord in personal fellowship, He Himself will produce this kind of fruit by the work of His Spirit (John 15:5; Gal. 5:22-23). A good prayer for each one of us is this: ”
Dear God, make me like this.”