Quotes about Christlikeness

The Sermon on the Mount is not an ideal, it is a statement of what will happen in me when Jesus Christ has altered my disposition and put in a disposition like His own. Jesus Christ is the only One Who can fulfil the Sermon on the Mount.

God's grace turns out men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not milksops.

True Christlikeness, true companionship with Christ, comes at the point where it is hard not to respond as he would.

We cannot behave on the spot as he did and taught if in the rest of our time we live as everybody else does. The on the spot episodes are not the place where we can, even by the grace of God, redirect unchristlike but ingrained tendencies of action toward sudden Christlikeness. Our efforts to take control at that moment will fail so uniformly and ingloriously that the whole project of following Christ will appear ridiculous to the watching world.

When the prophet Jeremiah, for example, says, "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick: Who can understand it?" we have to recognize from our heart that we are the ones spoken of, that, indeed, I am the one described. Only then is a foundation laid for spiritual formation into Christlikeness.

The fruit of wisdom is Christlikeness, peace, humility and love. And, the root of it is faith in Christ as the manifested wisdom of God.

The mark of spirituality is the fragrance of Christ in our lives and the fragrance of Christ in every aspect of who we are as a person.

Many have made the mistake of thinking that Christians are to be the heads of all corporations, governments, and departments. As good as that may sound, it's actually a fruit of the true goal. Christlikeness—excellence with humility—is the real goal. Promotion comes from the Lord. If we spent more time developing a Kingdom heart, we'd have more people in key places of leadership.

Do you want to know what God's will is for you? It is for you to become more and more like Christ. This is spiritual maturity, and if you make this your goal, it will change your life.

Patience is part of true Christlikeness, something we so often admire in others without demanding it of ourselves.

Finally, simply do what you know to do. If you stumble, get up. If you sin, repent. Whatever you do, in spite of your feelings, do not lose your vision of Christlikeness. Your vision is your surest hope. Guard it. If you are faithful to your goal of Christlikeness, God will give you the grace to live in His presence. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed, you also will be revealed with Him in glory (Col. 3:3—4). —FRANCIS FRANGIPANE

Ask God to make you like Christ so that, even when you are being persecuted, you can pray, "Father, forgive them.