Title: Discipleship Series – Christlike Living By Bro Akpan Akaninyene
Date: 10 Apr 14
BLESS you! Today we are looking at “Christlike living” as a characteristic of a disciple. Every disciple of Christ is expected to imitate the life of Christ. He or she is supposed to exhibit those virtues that Christ was known for in his or her daily interactions on earth; such as:
1. COMPASSION- Jesus demonstrated compassion towards people while here on earth. He was always moved by the plight of others. Some examples of this can be seen in the case of a widow whose son died, he raised the son back to life. (Luke 7:11-15) Also in the case of Lazarus (John 11: 33-43).In Matt14:14, he showed compassion to the sick multitude. He also demonstrated compassion to the leper in Mark 1:40-44, and to the poor, by miraculously providing food for them to eat (Mark 8:2-9). Jesus was compassionate, he would not close his eyes to the problems or needs of people without wanting to do something, so should his disciples. Every true disciple of His should do likewise. When we see people who are suffering; people who are in need, compassion should move us to action to alleviate their problems as much as is within our ability.
2. LOVE- Jesus was an epitome of love. Love brought him to this world. He lived and died in love for humanity. In John 13:1, the Bible says: ” Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world, he loved them unto the end”.
The Bible says concerning him “Jesus of Nazareth… who went about doing good, & healing all who were oppressed of the devil…”. That was love in action. Ephesians 5:25 says: ” As Christ also loved the Church, and gave himself for it”. John 15:13 says: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”.
Not only that Jesus loved, he also expected his disciples to emulate him when he said in verse 9 of the same John 15, “As the father hath loved me,so have I loved you: continue ye in my love”. And in verse 12, he says “this is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you”.
3. SELFLESSNESS – Jesus lived a selfless life. He was not seeking his own good, but that of others; he lived to please others. What mattered to him was how he can be a blessing to others; how he can always be of help to others. To him, it was others first, not the reverse that seems to be the order of the day. In Mark 10:45, he says ” for even the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and give his life a ransom to many”
How I wish all his disciples exemplify this; how much impact we would make if we are all living for others, seeking the good of others first,; think about others- how we can impact their lives- in line with Phillipians 2:3,4; and do away with this “I, ME, MYSELF” mentality that is predominant in the world.
As disciples of Christ, we must live Christlike life.
This message will be concluded next time. Until then, stay blessed.
Rev. A. U. Akpan is the president of Faith Activation Global Ministries, Lagos, Nigeria.