Easy steps to take to become more like Jesus (aka the only perfect human being, ever)

So, you want to become more like the big man himself? Congratulations, you have just taken the first step on this crazy journey we call ‘the Christian life’. God came down to the earth he created all that time ago to die for our sins, but also to show us how to live the way he created us to! When he was down here, Jesus lived as a human being, just like you and me. He breathed, ate, slept, managed relationships with friends and parents, made a living and experienced the whole spectrum of human emotions. Most people tend to look to celebrities these days as an example of how to live our lives, but to truly experience the life God has intended for us, we have to look to the only perfect human being to walk this earth. Following Jesus’ example is basically the ultimate hack to living the fullest, most interesting, adventurous and fulfilling life, but the ‘perfect life’ looks nothing like how we imagine it.

1. Redefine success

What does success look like to you? Sports cars, a mansion, a hot spouse, cute kids, expensive holidays, the latest technology, a high-flying career, a couple of million in the bank? Here’s how Jesus defined success:

(Mark 9:35) “He sat down and summoned the Twelve. “So you want first place? Then take the last place. Be the servant of all.”

Jesus flipped all of the world’s logic on its head. Getting ahead means nothing, accumulating assets means nothing, being rich, powerful and famous means nothing. Living a life of service is what makes someone successful. Living a life of service simply means this: serve others with what God has given you. Maybe you have some free time which you could spend volunteering or perhaps God has blessed you with money you could use to help other people who are in difficult circumstances. Even if you feel you have nothing which could be of use to others, simply loving the people God has placed in your life and putting their needs before your own is living a life of service. The amazing thing is, the more you serve, the more you want to serve. It’s not some kind of punishment from God, but a way of experiencing joy on a deeper level than you ever have before.

2. Don’t judge others

Many people believe Christians to be incredibly judgmental and, of course, some are. Jesus, however, led with love, never judgement. The most important thing to remember when it comes to how to treat others is that we are all sinners. You, me, that guy you have a crush on, that girl you want to be. All sinners. If we weren’t, there would have been no need for Jesus to sacrifice himself to rid us of sin. There is a lot of sin in the world. A lot. It’s only natural to feel overwhelmed by this and want to point out people’s mistakes but it’s not our job to fix people. My firm belief is that we should always point people to God and encourage them to embark on a relationship with him because he is the only one who can heal our brokenness.

So, the next time you come across someone who is living their life in a way you don’t agree with, remember that we’re all works in progress. If the person is a Christian and you know them well, you should of course give them constructive criticism to help them (after praying for guidance first). If they’re not and/ or you don’t know them well, you can still talk to them about it, but always come from a place of love and trying to understand their position. Something to avoid at all costs is debating complex issues with strangers in the comment sections of social media posts because this NEVER ends well. At the end of the day, we are all God’s representatives and our behaviour needs to reflect that. Bottom line: walk a mile in someone’s shoes before you wade in with your opinion. Jesus gained the trust of his companions before he lovingly corrected their behaviour.

3. Love like Jesus

Jesus’ love is everything! We can look to 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 to find out how we can love like him: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

For an easy way to check whether you’re loving as Jesus does, replace the word love with your name e.g Luisa is patient, Luisa is kind… It’s very convicting (remember, we’re all works in progress) but this should be the goal we strive for each day. Jesus’ way of loving was often represented by his service, like washing the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper. We too should aim to go the extra mile to love others as God loves us: unconditionally and unfailingly.

4. Learn to see past people’s emotions

Someone very wise said to me recently that we judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their actions. If you are trying to surprise someone you love with flowers and end up dropping pollen all over the house, your defence would probably be “but I was trying to do something nice!” If you were the one to come home and find pollen stains on your carpet, you probably wouldn’t feel so mellow about it. Everyone is imperfect, everyone makes mistakes, so try and think about frustrating situations from the other person’s point of view. Did they mean to be unkind, malicious or unhelpful? Or was it simply a mistake? We are all trying our best to be good, but sometimes we get things wrong and remembering this in moments of anger or annoyance can make all the difference.

Though it’s harder, even in situations where people intend to upset us we have to react differently from the rest of the world. Think how disarming it would be if someone you were rude to reacted with kindness and love instead of anger. It could change your whole way of thinking, maybe even your life. We need to react as Jesus did, in the full knowledge that bad behaviour will come back to bite people in the end.

5. Be bold in sharing the Gospel

I’m still very much working on this one myself. It can be very tricky to out yourself as a Christian in today’s world, where the prevailing view seems to be that Christians are weird, old-fashioned, racist, homophobic bigots. It is for that very reason, though, that we need to stand up and show people that we’re not and, most importantly, Jesus isn’t either. The world has a very warped view of Jesus; watch any film or TV show and I guarantee you’ll hear someone say Jesus’ name as a curse word within the first ten minutes. Jesus, in the world’s view, has all the very worst qualities of the group of Bible-thumping Christians who can’t see past their own prejudice to even begin to embark on loving their neighbour. Remember: Jesus came to topple the religious elite of the day, the Pharisees and Sadducees who were demanding the Jewish people live up to impossible standards instead of understanding that God desires us to be in relationship with him and to pass on the love we receive from him to others. If you’re scared of what people may think of you, a hard but necessary truth that has served me well is that those who mind don’t matter and those who matter won’t mind. I am always spurred on by the fact that this isn’t about me or you at all, it’s always about giving people the opportunity to know Jesus.

(Ezekiel 22:30-31) “I looked for someone to stand up for me against all this, to repair the defences of the city, to take a stand for me and stand in the gap to protect this land so I wouldn’t have to destroy it. I couldn’t find anyone. Not one.”

Be the one person God can call on.