What does it mean to be Christlike?

[jsr1221]

How would you answer this if someone were to walk up to you and ask what does it take to believe Christ is our savior and we are to live for Him? After two years I'm still trying to figure it out. I lived with two roommates studying to be pastors and I thought we were friends. They graduated in 2013 and went on to Seminary, whereas I just graduated a few months ago and am struggling to find work with no money. By no money I really mean no money. As in zero dollars. I bringoup the roommates though because since then never really heard from them. I realized all the Bible majors at my school just hung out with other Bible students, and if you weren't one of them then they thought less of you. Since then I've been trying to figure out how God works as I've heard constant stories of how He speaks to people. I want to know how. As I haven't had that one defining moment. Church. Praise/Worship. Prayer Reading Scripture. Haven't had that one defining moment where it felt like God just took me by the hand and say lets go. Can anyone maybe shed some insight and give their personal experiences? It would be appreciated as I'm a 23 year-old on the verge of having a breakdown, and wanting to feel that true relationship with Christ.

 

[kennethcadwell]

We are called to walk in love and forgiveness to others. To show kindness and love even to those who hate us.
When we walk as a Christian some times it may seem that God is not listening. This is because His will is done in our lives, and He will give us what He feels we need at the right time.
Plus we all hold different positions of the true church ( body of believers ) and therefore the Lord speaks to each of us in different ways. We are not all spoken to the same. I myself know He is listening because when ever I have a question about an area that I hear others speaking on that they are unsure of, He leads me right to the passage in minutes to answer that question.

I pray to Him constantly to always give me more understanding and knowledge in His word, and to help me speak when talking to others so that I do not give false information or teaching.

 

[roaringkitten]

''He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.'' 1 John 2:6

I believe this verse is speaking about what you are requesting. Note how this says one ''ought'' to walk, but sadly many Christians do not walk as He walked. Looking and studying about His earthly ministry will give us a good idea of how a Christian should represent Christ. I have spent years serving in churches, and sadly it has turned out that the ones I was involved in are driven by money and not a love for the Word of God, true fellowship, etc...

The Word says the just shall live by faith. There are times when my faith has faltered, but Jesus never left me nor forsook me! Prayer and Bible reading has helped me through the tough times, and the Lord speaks through the Word of God. Please be encouraged!

''These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.'' John 16:33

 

[RedTent]

How would you answer this if someone were to walk up to you and ask what does it take to believe Christ is our savior and we are to live for Him? After two years I'm still trying to figure it out. I lived with two roommates studying to be pastors and I thought we were friends. They graduated in 2013 and went on to Seminary, whereas I just graduated a few months ago and am struggling to find work with no money. By no money I really mean no money. As in zero dollars. I bringoup the roommates though because since then never really heard from them. I realized all the Bible majors at my school just hung out with other Bible students, and if you weren't one of them then they thought less of you. Since then I've been trying to figure out how God works as I've heard constant stories of how He speaks to people. I want to know how. As I haven't had that one defining moment. Church. Praise/Worship. Prayer Reading Scripture. Haven't had that one defining moment where it felt like God just took me by the hand and say lets go. Can anyone maybe shed some insight and give their personal experiences? It would be appreciated as I'm a 23 year-old on the verge of having a breakdown, and wanting to feel that true relationship with Christ.

We can't look at how easy our life is and say it is God making it easy or God making it hard. God told us He created a world and how we could operate in that world to make it into a safe, secure, happy world for everyone. Your 'friends" have shown you that many people aren't listening. We have had a homeless woman living with us for a year on orders from the Lord, so someone is listening to God.

Scripture tells us that things are going to get even worse than they are now, so it will cost you more than being hungry but being murdered and often just for your Lord. All though this are flowers that give beauty, birds that are taken care of, people who see that food is available for those who are hungry, etc. In all of history, in all times, the more God rules the more there is what Jews call Shalom---there is no English word for all the goodness this is.

Don't look for the ease of your life to find God, or even in the way those who profess Him miss the mark. Look at His works, His spirit, His words of scripture, His creation. Look at God.

 

[IAm3rd]

Do you live around Dallas ?

 

[oldhermit]

It means to be like Christ.

 

[crossnote]

How would you answer this if someone were to walk up to you and ask what does it take to believe Christ is our savior and we are to live for Him?

It takes the grace of God to open our eyes to 'see' Jesus and to see our need of Jesus.
It takes the same grace for us to continue to walk humbly, trusting Him and acknowledging Him in all our ways.

Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
(Psa 37:5)

 

[Angela53510]

I know that to be Christ-like doesn't mean hanging aound in Christian ghettoes, like Bible schools and Seminaries. They are just to train you to equip other believers to reach the world for Christ.

One of my fellow seminary students is a missionary in Spain. He was talking on a video the other day about how pagan Europe is, and all the weird questions he gets asked by the lost. But his heart is filled with love, and he is winning people to Christ.

So who did Christ hang out with? Not the religious people of his day. Go from there!

Jesus us had compassion, and a love so great he died for us.

"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." Matt 9:26

"When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick." Matt 14:14

"[ Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand ] Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” Matt 15:32

As for the OP, I'm worried about you! I will be praying you find that deep relationship with Christ, but also that you will find a job, and have enough money to make ends meet.

 

[Brother_Don]

When i was 23, i was living in confusion, and thats when i really started digging deep into His Word for answers. Now 27 years later, i don't have all the answers, but i have the Almighty, and our Salvation (Jesus) as my best friends. Glory to the Most High God, for His mercy and compassion. Keep on seeking, the Almighty is with you, waiting for you to see Him. Not in the physical, but in our daily lives.

 

[jsr1221]

Thank you all for the responses, advice, and encouragement. I'm a mess internally but sometimes we have to hit that rock bottom to get that true relationship with Christ. One of my biggest problems is seeing how God is working in others lives and thinking to myself how I just want to get started in my career already. And not feel like a waste of life. It just doesn't work like that I realize. Looking at others around me will only make this feeling worse. I need to focus on Jesus and nothing else. Take time to understanding His word. A deeper understanding of the praise and worship. Writing out my thoughts and then praying it out loud to God, as I've always had trouble speaking with God. Not knowing what to say. So thank you again for those who responded, as you have helped a lot. God bless you all.

 

[jsr1221]

Do you live around Dallas ?

Nowhere in Texas. I'm in Florida.

 

[jsr1221]

It means to be like Christ.

Not sure if there was some sarcasm to that but I didn't appreciate that response. You just repeated my question and posted it as a response. Gave no insight as to how I can grow closer to God, like others have on here. Good day to your, sir.

 

[oldhermit]

Not sure if there was some sarcasm to that but I didn't appreciate that response. You just repeated my question and posted it as a response. Gave no insight as to how I can grow closer to God, like others have on here. Good day to your, sir.

It was not intended to be a sarcastic response. Sometimes restating the proposition brings it into a different light. If you want to know what it means to be "Christlike" you need to first ask what is Christ like?

 

[JesusIsAll]

Galatians 5:19-25 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Galatians 5:13-14 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

 

[JesusIsAll]

Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

 

[jsr1221]

Galatians 5:19-25 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Galatians 5:13-14 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

How does one get rid of hatred if you clash with family. They talk down like I'm stupid. So my entire life our personalities clash. Honor thy mother and father. I love my mom and step dad and always will. But I just don't like being around them. I'm at my worse when I am. How can I overcome that? I put anger and hatred in the same group.

 

[JesusIsAll]

How does one get rid of hatred if you clash with family. They talk down like I'm stupid. So my entire life our personalities clash. Honor thy mother and father. I love my mom and step dad and always will. But I just don't like being around them. I'm at my worse when I am. How can I overcome that? I put anger and hatred in the same group.

Such situations, for me, come to a resolution in, oddly, reason. Is somebody who God calls their child stupid? Do you not have a glorious future? Who is more stupid than the blind, full of ego and pride of life, who will go to perdition? We can't serve two masters, I mean, pity those who are serving the devil, and just take it with a grain of salt. I've found just not responding to cruel or belligerent people in kind, realizing where they're coming from, shoot, if you're being mistreated for Christ, somebody's seeing something of Christ in you to persecute, praise the Lord! Remember it takes two to tango. I just refuse to get in the fray. At some gathering of the lion's den, I'm usually a pretty quite one. As for anger, make a conscious effort to count to ten, reject it, use the will God gave you to choose not to wallow in the mud and sit it out. Let the barbs roll off you, like water off a duck's back, ask yourself how much it will matter a ten thousand years from now. Last, but not least, pray for more patience, more endurance, read what the Bible has to say about the folly and poisonous nature of anger, then just tell yourself you won't give the sons of you-know-whats the pleasure of rattling your cage. Actually, they want you angry, want you upset, to have impact, all sorts of manipulative and controlling people like that. Just sit there, with a soft word and gentle smile, take it in dismissive humor, and see who gets troubled, and often even cease trying. Even the wicked can be made to feel like fools, just sitting there, after having said something cruel and stupid nobody found worth responding to. A lot of it comes down to "consider the source." A spiritual corpse behaves like a spiritual corpse, and likely has little to offer you need, anyway, to get exercised over, so prayerfully change yourself. They likely won't change. Turn your troubles over to God, dismiss them, and sleep well at night. Also, anger is not evil, if it's for a righteous reason, but is evil, what it leads to, if you don't reign it in, if you let those burning rags smolder, they can burst into flame.

Ephesians 4:26-27 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil.

Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.

 

[JesusIsAll]

How does one get rid of hatred if you clash with family. They talk down like I'm stupid. So my entire life our personalities clash. Honor thy mother and father. I love my mom and step dad and always will. But I just don't like being around them. I'm at my worse when I am. How can I overcome that? I put anger and hatred in the same group.

I had a family member who was very mean to me, that used to upset me when young. But I finally realized one day that, hey, I don't have to fight! Consider the source, talking trash. They were behaving ridiculously, had a mouth on them and a temper control problem. I just made it clear by a "whatever" stance, whatever fit at the time, a joking remark in return, or just a look and, "What?" like, "Huh? You nuts? Talking to me? Somebody make a noise?": this is all that would henceforth result of this insulting and bickering, misbehaving child, who was older than me, behaving so. You know something? That person ceased to try anymore, sometimes sat there so dejected they were misbehaving, all by themselves, left to stew their having acted like an ass. The learning process ended in an end to trying to jerk me around, which there was no profit in. As a matter of fact, that person would still come up against others, but just stopped trying with me, even learned to treat me with some love and respect.

 

[jsr1221]

Such situations, for me, come to a resolution in, oddly, reason. Is somebody who God calls their child stupid? Do you not have a glorious future? Who is more stupid than the blind, full of ego and pride of life, who will go to perdition? We can't serve two masters, I mean, pity those who are serving the devil, and just take it with a grain of salt. I've found just not responding to cruel or belligerent people in kind, realizing where they're coming from, shoot, if you're being mistreated for Christ, somebody's seeing something of Christ in you to persecute, praise the Lord! Remember it takes two to tango. I just refuse to get in the fray. At some gathering of the lion's den, I'm usually a pretty quite one. As for anger, make a conscious effort to count to ten, reject it, use the will God gave you to choose not to wallow in the mud and sit it out. Let the barbs roll off you, like water off a duck's back, ask yourself how much it will matter a ten thousand years from now. Last, but not least, pray for more patience, more endurance, read what the Bible has to say about the folly and poisonous nature of anger, then just tell yourself you won't give the sons of you-know-whats the pleasure of rattling your cage. Actually, they want you angry, want you upset, to have impact, all sorts of manipulative and controlling people like that. Just sit there, with a soft word and gentle smile, take it in dismissive humor, and see who gets troubled, and often even cease trying. Even the wicked can be made to feel like fools, just sitting there, after having said something cruel and stupid nobody found worth responding to. A lot of it comes down to "consider the source." A spiritual corpse behaves like a spiritual corpse, and likely has little to offer you need, anyway, to get exercised over, so prayerfully change yourself. They likely won't change. Turn your troubles over to God, dismiss them, and sleep well at night. Also, anger is not evil, if it's for a righteous reason, but is evil, what it leads to, if you don't reign it in, if you let those burning rags smolder, they can burst into flame.

Ephesians 4:26-27 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil.

Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.

For me it's hard to just dismiss them because I live with my step dad. And I see my mom most days of the week. Whenever I try to say something, both take offense. My step dad gets angry. Acts as if he does nothing wrong. And my mom gets angry and tries to say I'm arguing with her. I've spent most of my life walking on egg shells trying to avoid any confrontation. To the point where I just want to talk to both of them very little. It's different when these are the two people who raised you.

 

[JesusIsAll]

For me it's hard to just dismiss them because I live with my step dad. And I see my mom most days of the week. Whenever I try to say something, both take offense. My step dad gets angry. Acts as if he does nothing wrong. And my mom gets angry and tries to say I'm arguing with her. I've spent most of my life walking on egg shells trying to avoid any confrontation. To the point where I just want to talk to both of them very little. It's different when these are the two people who raised you.

This is hard, but, nonetheless, a degree of silence is called for or speaking of things that touch no nerves, consider the source and let some things truly roll off, and not to allow this to get so deep into you. It still takes two to tango, and by your rising above, you're also being an example of something Christlike which is different, which we are called to be. A tough situation, but Lord knows I've had mine as bad as yours, I assure you, and the devil can only get inside to the extent you open the door and dance with him.