All Weekly Sharpening Posts

December 8, 2022

It is Possible

It’s quite startling to begin to believe that transformation into Christlikeness is really possible.  You and I really could become persons who are kind to our enemies, who listen attentively to the people who annoy us, who work tirelessly to help others without hoping to get any credit.  -Jan Johnson, Renovation of the Heart in Daily Practice  [This is a book that the River West staff read together recently.  I recommend it.]

Our lifelong journey is to grow in Christlikeness.  To be men who love, lead and serve like Jesus.

And it is possible!  God wants this for us.   This is the wonder of the sanctification process as the Holy Spirit moves in our lives.

But do YOU believe it is possible?  Or do you think it’s an unattainable goal only reserved for the most spiritual of men?

Don’t let this moment escape you.  Think about your life and who you are as a man, and the many roles you play.  Do you want to model Christlikeness in all of them?  Do you want to be Spirit-led, channeling God’s wisdom from above more than you want to be influenced by the deceitful wisdom our world produces (James 3:14-18).

How would your life change if you truly believed that every day is a new opportunity to grow in Christlikeness?

Being like Jesus might seem like an impossible goal, but every day we can inch closer to being Jesus to the people around us who desperately need the love, joy, peace, hope, grace and mercy that the Gospel provides.

On the way to becoming more like Jesus, we become better men. 

It’s a process.  It’s two steps forward and one step back.  But the commitment to the goal should never waiver.

And we are not on this journey alone!  The Holy Spirit is in us.  He’s our guide on this adventure.

River West also has a growing brotherhood of men committed to growing in Christlikeness.  At last count we have 115 men meeting for weekly Bible study, worship and small group sharpening, split between Monday nights and Thursday mornings.  Let me know if you’d like to join us!

If the Holy Spirit is our guide, these brothers are the cheerleaders for the things that really matter.

Men, I’ve said this a hundred times, and I’ll say it again:  The world needs good men.  We can be the men the world needs—men committed to growing in Christlikeness.

It is possible.