Live Like Jesus

Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. I John 2:6 (New Living Translation, NLT)

This verse very clearly tells us that if we are born-again, or if we live in God, then we are to pattern our lives after Jesus. There’s no way around it- as children of God our lives are not our own.

You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. I Corinthians 6:19-20 (New Living Translation, NLT)

We are to live as Jesus did when He was on earth. This is no small thing. This means we are to have no room in our lives for pride, unforgiveness, selfishness, laziness, or lack of faith. We are to be about our Father’s business. Living like Jesus means following the desires of the Father above our own. It means loving sacrificially. It means being inconvenienced to help someone else. It means that we are to be all that Jesus was.

Jesus was the Truth, so we must walk in truth and honesty. Integrity must be present at all times. We do not lie or cheat or do anything to deceive.

Jesus was the Way, so we must live to point the way to others. This means we are to live as witnesses for Jesus Christ.

Jesus was the Word made flesh. So, we must live in the Word. We must live by the Word. The Word, which is Jesus, is in us, so it should come out of us. The Word should flow out of us as we speak it forth.

Jesus said He was the Bread that came down from heaven. This means we are not to live by natural bread alone, but by every Word of God.

Jesus also said He was the Life. We are to release life into people’s lives. We do this by the words we speak over them- words of life and not death. Our mouths were designed by God to release blessing, not cursing.

Jesus is the Resurrection. As such, He brings dead things back to life. We are to bring life to dead things- dead dreams, dead bodies, dead relationships, etc. We walk in resurrection power and we are to breathe life into dead situations.

And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. Acts 10:38 (New Living Translation, NLT)

Jesus lived a supernatural life of giving and doing good, which we are to copy and emulate. We are to go about doing good and operating in the gifts of the Spirit to help others.

How can we possibly expect to live like Jesus? It seems like it is an awful lot to do on our own. By ourselves, it is not possible for us to live like Jesus did. But, with the power of the Holy Spirit, we can do it. When we are born-again, the Holy Spirit moves in and takes residence in us. Then, as we are baptized in the Spirit, He overflows and empowers us in a supernatural way. It is only by the empowering of the Holy Spirit and by the grace of God that we can live like Jesus. The grace of God will do for us what we cannot do. As we rely on Jesus to live through us, we are enabled to live like Him.