Mission Venture Ministries

“He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (1 John 2:6) 

John is basically saying that the only way in which we can show that we know God is thru obedience to Him, and the only way we can show that we have union with Christ is by imitating Him. 

The person that professes that he lives in fellowship with the Lord does their utmost to live as Jesus lived. To walk, meaning to carry out our behavior as Christ left us as example, that we should follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21). 

It is an accepted fact that friendship shapes a person’s life and we tend to become like our friends. Therefore, the more we walk with Christ in daily fellowship and friendship the more we become like Him. 

When we choose to walk as Christ did, we must obey His teachings and follow His example of complete obedience to God – that way we abide in Him and He in us. “The one who keeps God’s commands lives in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us (1 John 3:24). 

The point here is that the one who knows God will increasingly lead a righteous life, for God is righteous. It does not mean that the person will be sinless; John has already shown that anyone who claims this is lying (1 John 1:8). It simply means that the person is moving in a direction marked out by the righteousness of God. Nonetheless, while we recognize that we will never fully achieve Christ likeness on this side of glory, we “have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (Colossians 2:6). 

Let us take a look at several specific commands in the New Testament that describe such a walk. 

• First, we are to “walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16, 25; Romans 8:1-4). The empowering of the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to “walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory” (1 Thessalonians 2:12). 

• Second, we must “walk in love, as Christ also has loved us” (Ephesians 5:2). 

• Third, we must “walk in truth” (3 John 1:4) and “properly” (Romans 13:13). 

To walk as Jesus walked means that our lives should be characterized by daily dependence on God, submission to Him, and obedience to His will. Our overall aim in life is to seek first His kingdom and righteousness, as we seek to please Him by our thoughts, words, and deeds.

If we want to be like Jesus we need to deal with our pride and any boastfulness. Therefore, “let this humble mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).

To be more like Jesus is to be a person willing to put others before ourselves, to seek wisdom from God, and to care about how we interact with the people we come across in life. We need to be considerate in all that we do. 1 Corinthians 13:4 says that love is always patient and kind. And Hebrews 12:14 states: “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.”

We need to care for other people and treat others as we would like to be treated (Matthew 7:12); we need to think beyond our self.

Scripture teaches us to be like our Lord and Savior in “all manner of conversation,” therefore we need to watch our tone of voice and the words that come out of our mouths. As born again believers we are Christ’s earthly witnesses, and we must act as a reflection of Him. 

While we will never perfectly walk as Jesus walked, it should be our constant aim and effort to do so as Paul told the Corinthians “be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). 

*******