In the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the wicked queen would stand before her magic mirror and ask the question, “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall. Who is the fairest one of all.” The answer would always be, “Thou, O Queen, art the fairest in the land.” When Snow White became a beautiful young lady, the mirror told the Queen that Snow White was the fairest.
Being the fairest in the land was the most important thing in the world to the wicked Queen. For some in the modern world, being the most attractive, having the most beautiful clothes, having the biggest house, and having the latest model car all mean more than anything to the worldly woman. For the Christian woman, the most important thing in the world should be, “Can you see Christ in my life?”
In order to answer the question for our study today, we need to look at the attributes of Christ and then see if we can find those attributes in who we are. Then we will see how we can put those attributes into our lives.
When we think about the attributes of our Lord, it isn’t difficult to see the good things in His life. The ultimate sacrifice was His giving His life for us. For now, put aside the fact that He came to die for our sins and concentrate on who this man was in His physical life.
Everything about Him can be summed up in the statement in Luke 2:52. “And Jesus increased in wisdom, and in stature, and in favor with God and man.” He was a learner. He spent time with the scholars in Jerusalem asking questions and learning from those He respected. He grew physically. Though the Bible tells us He was not handsome, He grew as any normal child did. He found favor with God, and He found favor with mankind. He subjected Himself to God and to His parents.
The attributes of Christ can be found in His everyday life. I’ll briefly mention six. The first one constitutes the foundation for all the others. He was a man of prayer. He prayed when He needed strength from God. He prayed when He was about to perform a miracle or to forgive sins. He prayed when He was hurting and when He was suffering. In those prayers we find a second attribute. He was respectful of the Father. He always prayed, “Thy will be done.”
Jesus was a student of God’s Word. He knew the law. He honored the Jewish feast days. He knew the stories of the Old Testament, and He had respect for the Jewish way of life.
He was a servant. He didn’t mind washing feet, kneeling on the ground, eating with the publicans and sinners, walking the long dusty roads of Judea and Galilee, or bearing His own cross to Calvary.
He had compassion on the sick, the bereaved, the sinful. He exhibited sympathy and pity in the healing of the sick, raising the dead, and feeding the hungry. He exhibited that sympathetic pity that shows concern for the suffering of all mankind.
He was accepting of others. He did not condone their sin, but He accepted them where they were and then taught them, moving them from unbelief to belief when He could get through to them.
Finally, Jesus fulfilled His purpose. He knew His purpose, and He lived a life to fulfill it.
Now we need to answer the question the title proposes. Do you see Christ in me at all? We can’t perform miracles, but we can have respect for God, be a woman of prayer, be a student of God’s Word, live a life of service, have compassion on mankind, and be accepting of others. Colossians 3:12-17 tells us what we need to do to be such women.
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so. You also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
When we live by Paul’s words, we can know that others can see Christ in us.
Sandra Oliver