In His Image: 10 Ways God Calls Us to Reflect His Character

by Jen Wilkin

All temptation is common. All temptation is escapable. Every believer has the ability to overcome it.

We should reflect his faithfulness to us with faithfulness toward others. Jesus Christ is the perfect expression of God’s faithfulness toward humankind, as well as the perfect expression of human faithfulness toward God and others. His example shows us the way of faithfulness.

God is patient with his children with regard to their sin. He is patient to bear with us as we progress along the path of sanctification, forgiving our sins again and again. He is patient to work out our deliverance in good time. He is patient to await a harvest, and patient to bring in the sheaves in the fullness of time. Our God is “not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). God’s patience is an expression of his love.

God’s will for our lives is that we would be patient as he is patient. He wills that we would follow the example of Christ’s patience and await the return of Christ patiently.

We must be known for our staying power when loving our neighbors takes longer than we expected and is harder than we thought. It takes patience to run with endurance, but that is the race the world needs to see us run. It may just be what catches and holds their attention in a goldfish world. Let patience be found among the people of God. He is not finished with us yet.

God is truth. He is its origin and its determiner. What he defines as true is eternally true, unchangingly true. Because he is truth, all of his actions reveal truth and all of his words declare it.

Truth is anything that conforms to reality. So, when we acknowledge God as truthful, we are doing more than affirming that he is honest. We are affirming that he defines reality.

In making the claim that our God defines an objective reality, Christianity flatly denies the notion of moral relativism, that we decide what is right and wrong for ourselves. What God declares as good is truly good, and what God declares as bad is truly bad.

Christianity asks and answers the existential questions all humans face: Origin: Where did I come from? Purpose: Why am I here? Problem: What’s wrong? Solution: What fixes what’s wrong? The way the Bible answers these questions frames the Christian worldview, the reality from which we operate: Origin: We are not a cosmic accident; we were created by God. Purpose: We exist to bring glory to God and to enjoy him forever. Problem: Like Adam and Eve, we exchanged the truth of God for a lie and rebelled against our Creator, rendering us spiritually dead. Solution: God sent his Son to redeem us from death to life.

Instead of “living my truth,” may God direct me into living his, the only one there really is—the truth that rejects isolation instead of creating it. To do so is to plunge myself into the community that only a shared truth preserves.

We need our gathering times to remind us that the truth we are staking our lives on is a truth we share with every believer in our congregation. Moreover, it is a truth we share with every believer who has ever lived. It is an ancient truth that suffers no loss of integrity with the passage of time.

Jesus tells his disciples, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31–32).

What is the will of God for your life? His will is that you know the truth (John 8:32). That you walk in the truth (3 John 1:4). That you speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15). That you be sanctified in truth (John 17:17). That you rejoice in the truth (1 Cor. 13:6). That you rightly handle the truth (2 Tim. 2:15). That you obey the truth (1 Pet. 1:22).

God, by contrast to you and me, never extrapolates. Possessing all the facts, he combines them with perfect insight, and chooses wisely every time. Wise humans may have their judgment clouded by personal bias, but God is free of that limit as well. His wisdom is perfect. It is also implicitly good.

Though wisdom is a sign of maturity in humans, it is a simple fact in God. He does not grow in wisdom—he is infinitely wise and his wisdom never waxes or wanes. God understands everything exactly the right way and does everything exactly the right way. He always has, and he always will. His wisdom transcends human wisdom by an infinite distance: “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength” (1 Cor. 1:25 NIV).

Worldly wisdom self-promotes. Godly wisdom elevates others. Worldly wisdom seeks the highest place. Godly wisdom seeks the lowest place. Worldly wisdom avoids the mirror of the Word. Godly wisdom submits to the mirror of the Word. Worldly wisdom trusts in earthly possessions. Godly wisdom trusts in treasures in heaven. Worldly wisdom boasts. Godly wisdom is slow to speak. Worldly wisdom says trials will crush you. Godly wisdom says trials will mature you. Worldly wisdom says temptation is no big deal. Godly wisdom says temptation indulged leads to death. Worldly wisdom says, “Seeing is believing.” Godly wisdom says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). Worldly wisdom wields might. Godly wisdom works in meekness.

Simply put, any thought, word, or deed that compromises our ability to love God and neighbor is folly. Utter foolishness. The height of stupidity.

Wisdom is a mark of spiritual maturity.

What is the will of God for your life? If any of you lack wisdom, ask.

The Bible is filled with exhortations for how we can reflect our Creator as we become increasingly like Christ.

Fullness of joy results when we seek to reflect our Maker. It is what we were created to do. It is the very will of God for our lives.