Becoming Like Jesus
“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
Romans 8:29 (ESV)
Sanctification, in the Bible, is not a linear moral progression toward perfection. It is a shaping. God does not ask you to already be like His Son; He commits Himself to making you like His image. The work is His, in stages you do not always choose.
Some you enjoy — moments of growth, prayer that deepens. Others cost you — trials that strip you of what you thought essential. All move in the same direction: aligning you to the form of Christ. You will not resemble Jesus by watching yourself every day in the mirror of perfection. You will resemble Him by contemplating Him — and the image is engraved by this contemplation, without you even noticing.
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6 (ESV)
Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
1 John 3:2 (ESV)