Day 22: Created To Become Like Christ

Romans 8:3-4 New King James Version
3  For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending
His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the
flesh,  4  that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk
according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Romans 8:29-30 (MSG)
29-30  God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to
shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The
Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended
shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should
be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he
set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he
stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.

“Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image and likeness.’ ” (Genesis 1:26 NCV) 
“Take on an entirely new way of life — a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and
working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.” (Ephesians
4:22-24 MSG) 

Hebrews 5:8-10 The Message
7-10  While he lived on earth, anticipating death, Jesus cried out in pain and wept in sorrow
as he offered up priestly prayers to God. Because he honored God, God answered him.
Though he was God’s Son, he learned trusting-obedience by what he suffered, just
as we do. 

Matthew 5:1-12 New King James Version
The Beatitudes
5 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His
disciples came to Him.  2  Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
3  “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4  Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
5  Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the  [a] earth.
6  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
7  Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
8  Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
9  Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
10  Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11  Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against
you falsely for My sake.  12  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in
heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Galatians 5:22-23 Amplified Bible
22  But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern
for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while
waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  23  gentleness, self-control. Against such
things there is no law.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 New International Version
4  Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  5  It does
not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of
wrongs.  6  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  7  It always protects,
always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

2 Peter 1:5-9 The Message
5-9  So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your
basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate
patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting
into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no
grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in
your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right
before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.

John 17:13-19 The Message
13-19  Now I’m returning to you.
I’m saying these things in the world’s hearing
So my people can experience
My joy completed in them.
I gave them your word;
The godless world hated them because of it,
Because they didn’t join the world’s ways,
Just as I didn’t join the world’s ways.
I’m not asking that you take them out of the world
But that you guard them from the Evil One.
They are no more defined by the world
Than I am defined by the world.
Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth;
Your word is consecrating truth.
In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world,
I give them a mission in the world.
I’m consecrating myself for their sakes
So they’ll be truth-consecrated in their mission.