growing Christlikeness

The second last Friday we talked about growing the kingdom of God with our gifts and talents. This past Friday, we talked about growing an equally important thing- our Christlikeness.

If we were to categorize our faithlife into three main parts, it could be accepting Christ, growing in Christ while here on earth, and enjoying Him in heaven. Obviously, it is this second stage that we focused on looking at the beginning of Philippians 2.

I think we can all admit to doing something for selfish reasons and one point or another. That's what the first few verses are telling us not to do. But rather but others' interests as equal or more important to your own interests. When verse 2 talks about "being one in spirit and purpose," it means more than just agreeing. It means working together towards the same purpose and common goals despite differences in backgrounds, beliefs, or interests.

Verses 6-11 are very powerful and straightforward. The only tough thing to mention is verse 6. Christ's equality to God was not "something to be grasped." His power and glory was always there (refer to the Gospel of John 1:1-5). He laid it aside by being incarnated, made into human likeness, only to regain it after resurrecting and ascending to be with God the Father again. It is this model of humility that we must strive for as Christians.

Afterwards we did an activity with a ball of yarn. One person mentions how another has displayed Christlikeness and then passes off the ball of yarn while still holding to the beginning of the yarn. This goes on to create a web of yarn. It visually shows how displaying Christlikeness can go a long way and affect many lives. Kind of similar to the concept in the movie, Pay it Forward. One person performs a random act of kindness to three people, and they return the favor by being kind randomly to another three people, and so on.

My prayer is for all of us to become more Christlike, which will naturally affect lives in a positive way towards Christ. blessings