You Were Created to be Like Jesus

God is the Designer of the world and because there is a Designer, there is a design for your life. If there is a Maker, there is meaning. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Before you were even born, God had you in mind. He loved you, and He created you for specific work. There’s a purpose for your life. It’s important to determine what that is. You can either pursue your purpose and try to accomplish it, or you can ignore it.  1.        Commit to God’s Plan. ·      Romans 3:23 – We’ve all sinned and fall short of God’s glory. ·      There’s no way you can live a good enough life to get to heaven. ·      Romans 10:9 – Has there been a moment in your life when you’ve asked Jesus for forgiveness and surrendered your life to Him? ·      Putting your faith in Jesus is the first step to committing to God’s plan. ·      If you haven’t committed your life to Jesus you are rejecting God’s plan for your life and your purpose. ·      Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.” ·      You have to decide to either accept Jesus’ words as truth, or reject them.   2.        Commit Yourself to Change the Way You Think. ·      Ephesians 4:22 – It’s not enough to just stop doing bad things. You have to think differently.  ·      We must be informed by the Word of God and begin to think like Jesus. ·      As humans, we copy the behavior of other people. ·      Romans 12:2 – Don’t copy behaviors and customs of the world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. ·      As God transforms you from the inside out, you begin to understand His perfect will for your life. ·      Christians must let God’s Word show them the right way to think about situations and issues in the world. ·      What I saw on a mission trip to Venezuela changed the way I think.   3.        Commit Yourself to Develop Christ-like Character. ·      Ephesians 4:24 - The goal of becoming like Christ is to live a more righteous, holy life. ·      We’re not trying to become more righteous so that we can earn heaven. ·      Heaven is a gift God gives us solely based on faith in Christ alone. ·      Becoming more like Christ is a continuous journey. We have a long way to go! ·      God uses us as we surrender our actions and attitudes to Him.  ·      As we seek to become more like Him, He uses us to impact other people. ·      If you choose to ignore your purpose, life will continue to feel meaningless.   The only way we begin to find true meaning and purpose in life is by committing ourselves to God's plan, changing how we think, and allowing our character to be developed by Jesus. As we do that, we truly worship God and embrace him as our Lord.