We continue today in our journey to discover more meaning and purpose for our lives, utilizing Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life, as a starting point. Today, the third of five purposes identified by Warren, "we were created to be like Christ." (Read II Corinthians 3:17 & 18).

One difficulty in the early going with The Purpose Driven Life was Warren’s emphasis on God’s plan, God’s purpose for our lives. Warren’s emphasis on it not being about us, but about God caused some of you to ask the question, "Do we have any choice in God’s plan for our lives? Does anything we do make a difference?" As we’ve begun to look at specific purposes for our lives, the answer is a resounding, "Yes!"

It's very much like the "Six Marks of a Disciple" that are a part of our announcements each week—(1) Pray daily. (2) Worship weekly. (3) Read the Bible regularly. (4) Serve at and beyond Shepherd of the Hills. (5) Be in relationships with others to encourage spiritual growth. (6) Give of my time, talents and resources. In our purpose of being created for God’s pleasure, the level of our commitment to worship God makes a difference. We can choose to be here or not. We have a choice in making all of life an act of worship by whether or not we give Christ central place in every aspect of our lives. In our purpose of fellowship with the family, of being in relationships with others, we choose whether or not we’ll seek more of that. We choose to be a part of a particular family of believers. More than that, we choose the level of our participation in the family. Likewise, there are choices before us that make a difference as to how much our lives will be a reflection of Jesus Christ, whether or not we would be very much like Christ at all. How much time we choose to spend in the presence of God, expressed specifically in our commitment to pray daily, to read and reflect on Scripture regularly, will play an important role in whether or not our lives take on a Christlike appearance.

Are you familiar with the name, Phil Mickelson? Mickelson, as I’m sure most of you know, is a professional golfer, one of the most popular players on the PGA Tour. A highlight of last year’s PGA season was Mickelson finally shedding the unwanted title of "best golfer to never have won a major" when he won the Master’s tournament. Mickelson is known by the moniker "Lefty" because…well, because he plays golf left-handed. Like, "duh," Ron! But, here’s the thing. The only thing that "Lefty" Mickelson does left-handed is golf. Otherwise, he’s right-handed. The reason he plays golf left-handed is because he first began learning the game at an early age—one-and-a-half years old(!)—by standing across from his father, who plays right-handed, and mirroring his father’s swing.

That image is something like God’s third purpose for our lives—that we would grow to be more like Christ, that the "faith swing" of our lives would reflect more and more the image of Jesus Christ. Christ came, in part, to demonstrate the best that humanity can be. You want to know what human beings, at their best, should say and do? What a perfect swing looks like? Look at Christ. And it is God’s desire, God’s purpose for us, that our lives would look more and more like Christ’s. We are invited to enter into the life of Christ, to gaze upon Christ and mirror the movements we see him make. To be sure, our "mirror reflection" of Christ we will be an imperfect one. In I Corinthians, the apostle Paul writes, "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face." (I Cor. 13:12a) We’ll never, in this life, reflect a perfect image of Christ. Nonetheless, it is the goal and purpose toward which we keep pressing on.

Do you remember the commercial theme, "Be Like Mike?" The goal was to be like Michael Jordan. I believe it was a commercial for the sport drink Gatorade, and the truth of the matter is the closest we'll get to being like Mike is our ability to also drink Gatorade! Well, God wants us to "Be Like Christ," and the closest we come to doing that is by drinking from the fount of God's Spirit—standing in the presence of God and allowing the glory of His Spirit to work towards perfecting our faith swing.

There are some barriers, however, we must overcome in moving toward being more and more like Christ. Here is where the choices we make are so important and have a role in finding purpose and meaning in life.

For one thing, standing before the image of Christ can be painful and uncomfortable. The light that shines from His glory reveals the darkness that exists in us. Becoming more and more like Christ means that we must change our behavior that is un-Christlike. What the light of Christ reveals can make us uncomfortable. Changing our behavior can hurt. Consequently, we can choose to not stand before the image of Christ, to not put ourselves in the presence of God where his glory shines, to not drink from His Spirit. To become more like Christ, we must overcome the barrier of avoiding the uncomfortable and resisting changes in our faith swings.

Additionally, becoming more like Christ requires a commitment of time from us. First of all, it is a long process—a lifelong process. Phil Mickelson didn't master his imitation of his father's swing immediately! Even to this day, Mickelson must practice, practice, practice to maintain his swing. The same is true for our faith swing. It takes time. It takes a lifetime.

It also takes a commitment of time carved out of our daily schedules to stand in the mirror of Christ's image. It takes time, for example, to commune with Christ in prayer. The process of prayer is where Christ’s Spirit works on our heart—changing the hardness of our un-Christlike hearts into the softness of His nature and character. Prayer is as much, if not more, about its affect upon us, the pray-ers, as it is about getting an answer from God. God uses the communion of prayer—the "mirror" of prayer—to mold and shape our hearts to become more and more like Christ’s. Prayer activates the fountain of God's Spirit from which we drink.

It also takes a commitment of time from us to encounter and know the Christ we are to emulate through the study and reflection of God’s holy word. How do we know what it looks like to be like Christ? By encountering Christ in God’s word. To read and reflect upon what the Scriptures tell us Christ did and said. To have our hearts molded and shaped by the Master Potter—the slices and hooks of our faith swing adjusted—through our communion with Him in the study, reflection and application of His holy word.

I was reminded in reading this section of The Purpose Driven Life about the benefit of systematically memorizing passages from Scripture. Years ago, Kim and I participated in a small group whose express purpose was to grow as a disciple, to grow in following Jesus Christ, to grow, that is to say, in becoming more like Christ. The Navigators’ Design for Discipleship program included a systematic process for memorizing Scripture—65 passages over the two year journey in the group. What I remembered about that process was that focusing on a particular passage of Scripture for the expressed purpose of committing it to memory caused me to have that passage in my head throughout the week. One incredible benefit to that was the passage "came alive" with meaning. As events would occur in my life throughout that week, the passage I was working on would come to mind, would come alive with application to a particular situation, with helpful encouragement. God’s word is "alive" and I experienced that truth, in one way, through the process of Scripture memorization. I became so aware of that benefit from my past, and my present need to return to it, that I got online with the Navigators and ordered their Topical Memory System. They have two different ones. One is the basic program that was a part of our small group. The other is a "Life Issues" program with passages applying to such issues as anger…dealing with sin…suffering…money and knowing God's will. It also says here on the box that it has passages relevant to the life issue of sex! I haven't gotten to those yet, but I'm looking forward to it! Scripture passages relevant to the issues we face in life. By committing them to memory—and through the process of memorization—the passages "come alive" for us.

I e-mailed our small group leaders encouraging them and their group participants to consider a systematic process for Scripture memory for themselves. And I would encourage you to do the same. It certainly doesn’t have to be the Navigators system. But, some intentional, systematic process of memorizing Scripture will lead to God's word coming alive in your life. And God works through that process to conform our hearts to become more and more like Christ’s. We drink at the fountain of God's Spirit when we study and reflect on God's word.

As I shared with Kim about returning to this process of Scripture memorization and the benefits it brought to us, she reminded me of an additional result. During that time of intentional work on memorizing Scripture, Kim asked a friend at work to help her. Her friend, Vonda, was not a Christian, but a friend that Kim felt comfortable in asking to help her with her memory work. Kim would give her memory card to Vonda and Vonda would refer to it as Kim recited the verse. Now, Vonda wasn’t memorizing the verse, but she was being exposed to the word of God and it had an affect on her life.

There are lots of benefits to serious study of God’s word. It is a requirement for someone to become more like Christ. But, it takes a commitment of time on our part.

If we will make that commitment, however, God will honor that by building up within us more and more the Spirit of Christ. Our selfish hearts will be chipped away at, and a heart closer to the heart of Christ will develop. I liken it to one of my favorite passages in Scripture. John the Baptist was always pointing people, not to himself, but to Christ. When the followers of John came to him with concern about the growing popularity of Jesus threatening John’s popularity, John’s response was, "He must become greater; I must become less." (John 3:30) As we make the intentional commitment to "become less," God fills that space with His Spirit so that we become more and more like Christ. The power to make that change does not come from us, it comes from God. It is a part of His purpose for our lives. But, we participate with God in that purpose for our lives, by willingly becoming less so He might become greater. By committing to a time of communion with God in prayer where a part of that communion is asking Him to chip away at our selfish spirit and replace it with Christ’s Spirit, we become more and more like Christ. By committing to times for study and reflection of God’s word, where we encounter the Spirit of Christ and say, "That’s what I want to be like Lord…please make me like that," we become more and more like Christ. Our character changes, painful though that sometimes is, glorious though that becomes, and we discover the greater joy of living more like God wants us to live. We find the strength to change, the strength to endure difficulties in life, the strength to witness about Christ—because our lives—our faith swings—become more and more a reflection of who Christ is…and that is tremendously attractive to people who are starving for meaning and purpose in their lives. Becoming more like Christ is a foundational purpose that God has for our lives.

Max Lucado puts it this way in his book, appropriately titled, Just Like Jesus. "Where did we get this idea that we can’t change? From whence come statements such as, ‘It’s just my nature to worry.’ ‘I’ll always be pessimistic…I’m just that way.’ ‘I can’t help the way I react…I have a bad temper.’ Such thoughts are not from God. He can no more leave a life unchanged than a mother can leave a tear untouched. His plan for you is nothing short of a new heart. If you were a car, God would want to control your engine. If you were a computer, God would claim the software and the hard drive. If you were an airplane, he’d take his seat in the cockpit. But you are a person, so God wants to change your heart. God loves you just the way you are, but he refuses to leave you there. He wants you to have a heart like his. He wants you to be…just like Jesus."