“O to be like Thee! Blessed Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee,
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stomp Thine own image deep on my heart.”

It takes the rest of a person’s lifetime to become more and more like their Savior Jesus Christ. If that has never taken place in a person’s life, the time is now. God has made it possible that we can choose Christ as our personal Savior today. Tomorrow may never come as the “next day” like we have come to expect in the journey of life. There is nothing better than to get on board your journey to Heaven and thus to know Who your Captain and leader is!

We are told throughout the Bible to become more like the Lord in “all manner of conversation” (1 Peter 1:15-16) because Jesus has called us to “be ye holy in all manner of conversation.” That takes us into every aspect of life. As a believer into the walk with Jesus now as Savior, we are to be an adequate reflection of Him. This enables others to see in us the changes we all need to be making.

We find written in 1 John 3: “That when he shall appear (back to earth), we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (verse two). The next verse declares: “And every man that hath this hope in him (Jesus Christ) purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”

What a joy and hope we have in any life who has received Jesus as Savior! It is only possible as a result of what He has done as Savior — who has been received definitely into someone’s heart. John writes in 1 John 2:6: “He that saith he abideth in him (Jesus), ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.”

We are given the Christ-like patterns to follow. It is a thrilling joy to be more like Him each new day. Some ideas come to our hearts in “O to Be Like Thee,” verse two:

“O to be like Thee! Full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wand’ring sinner to find.”

The world without wanting or having Christ at the driver’s wheel is almost everywhere we look! There are influences we each can donate hour by hour, and way by way, that God has given. We can even suffer unjustly and choose to not hold back revenge and hatefulness. Those who may have done so to others need to greatly yield their hearts to Christ. He did no sin! He reviled others in no way, even though they had already done so to Him.

First Peter 2:24 reminds us that: “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree (the cross), that we being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” Obviously we, through Christ, can now be dead to sin and healed from its stinging results.

Our third verse today writes:

“O to be like Thee! Lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches
Willing to suffer others to save.”

We also are to love one another in the spiritual sense. First John 4 takes us to a song we may have sung as a younger child. Verses seven and eight remind us that: “Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” Those are two verses that are wonderful to memorize! We each struggle with truly loving others in the right way, but it must satisfy God in His way and not ours. Verses 10 and 11 then remind us: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” Yes, we ought also to love one another!

Verse four tells us in our song today:

“O to be like Thee! Lord I am coming,
Now to receive the anointing divine;
All that I am and have, I am bringing —
Lord, from this moment all shall be Thine!”

That prayer must be said in our hearts moment by moment!

Being like Christ involves a life of service, with no comparison of ourselves to others. We need to stay humble in our minds and obedient to God’s call in life. Mr. Chisholm writes in the final verse:

“O to be like Thee! While I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple, meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and heaven above!

“O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee,
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.”

Christ has forgiven each of us many results of our own sins. He has done so even when sin grieved Him deeply. He desires to forgiven and to restore fellowship. Each of us who are Christians should want to see others restored. There is nothing that any of us should do to promote people we do not like to go right on into Hell. Seeking others to decide for Heaven is the job Christians have been assigned to the rest of their lives.

Our final thought today is that if we are to be like Jesus, then, “Let all bitterness, and worth, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind, one to another tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” We owe it all to God. Let’s stay with that job! Amen!