Our Purpose In Life Is To Become Like Christ

𝐀𝐔𝐆. 𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓. 𝐃𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐂, 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭 

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐃𝐞𝐮𝐭 𝟒:𝟑𝟐-𝟒𝟎

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟕𝟕:𝟏𝟐-𝟏𝟔, 𝟐𝟏 “𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.” 𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟏𝟔:𝟐𝟒-𝟐𝟖

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒖𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕.” (𝒗.25) 

         “𝑰𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒆, 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒖𝒑 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒆.” (𝒗.24)        

         In just this one verse of Matthew’s 16th chapter, Jesus sums up the parameters of what it is to be his disciple, and he narrows it down to just three underlying principles which are clearly specified in this verse.

         The first of these three sets of discipling principles is 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. To some this may be as easy as going on a fast or abstaining from your favorite food or activity to merit the favor of God.

         But what Jesus Christ is referring to when he said anyone who wishes to follow him must deny himself is for that would-disciple to put to death his own character or persona and put on the person of Christ. To deny oneself is to deny that your original personhood even exists and putting on the character and person of Christ in you.

         In other words, a would-be disciple is one who dies to himself and is resurrected to a new life clothe with the character of the person he wants to follow or emulate. In simpler terms, this is like the slaves employed by their master during the time of Jesus.

         In those days, the slave has no character of his own since he is considered owned by his Master. He literally only waits for what his master will tell him to do for the day such that his entire life is spent in the service of the Master until such time he is given his freedom if ever such time will come. To deny oneself is to step down from your throne and to put God at the throne of your entire being.

         The second principle is for the would-be disciple 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬. This simply means that those who want to follow Christ and end up being glorified with him must embrace a life of sacrificial service. To sacrifice is to forego certain pleasures enjoyed by a would-be disciple and exchange this for an opportunity to serve without expecting any reward at all.

         It also means putting oneself at a disadvantage especially when responding to the needs of the marginalized ones. There are times when a would-be disciple will have to face persecution in the pursuit of what he believes is a noble cause and inconvenience when being asked to serve in the mission field that is not entirely to his liking.

         Crosses come in different forms and shapes. It could be as simple as being asked to do menial tasks in your ministry or in an outreach mission in a place bereft of the comforts of home to the struggle that you face in being moved to forgive someone who may have wronged you. The Christian life is filled with crosses, but one thing is clear, the glory that Christ spoke of is there at the foot of the cross.

         The third principle is a would-be disciple 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭. To follow Christ is to obey, obey, obey, obey. There is no other way and there are no ifs and buts. A would-be disciple will just have to obey all the things that Christ taught which is encapsulated in the two most important commands that Christ gave to his disciples: “𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅, 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉.” 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕: “𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒏𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒃𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇.” On these twin commandments are founded the Christian life because love is what will propel a would-be disciple into denying himself, carry his cross and follow Christ.

         And after he laid down the principles of discipleship, Christ reminded his disciples anew that judgment will be levied on those who will persist in living a sinful life. What Christ warns is the tendency of some to give up on the difficult and sacrificial life of discipleship and exchange these with the comforts that the world brings.

         To Christ, such an attitude is foolishness because no man can bring with him any of these material possessions to the afterlife when his end of age comes as this worldly wealth also cannot stop the inevitable – death – from happening nor can it add any years, months, weeks, or days to one’s life.

         What Christ is simply telling us in this Gospel passage is for us to turn our back on the world and to offer ourselves wholly and completely to him and to the Church as a living sacrifice. We cannot avoid or turn away from the pain and suffering in serving God because if we do run away from these inconveniences and sacrifices, we risk the possibility of dying a spiritual death. In reality, to serve without counting the cost takes us on the road to eternity.

         How we live this short span of our lives determines our eternal goal and what we accumulate on earth has no value whatsoever in the Heavenly Kingdom which is our final destination. Even our professional titles, positions, education and learning cannot earn for us the right to enter heaven but only in following Christ can we be assured of salvation.

         But while our own salvation has been assured, we as Christians will still be evaluated by the Supreme Judge and Author of Life on whether we have been faithful in the use of the gifts that have been given to us. And this brings us back again to the question of whether we are spending our lives for God, and in God or with God.

        When the LSS activity run short of Shepherds, mission activities that are wanting in workers, when pastoral authority are no longer respected and where there is a breakdown in the flow of authority, when attendance in Corporate Worships and Word Sharing Circles flat out, it is time that each member especially Covenanted Disciples to start reviewing their 8-point Covenant to evaluate themselves and see where they currently stand in relation to the commitment they made.

        Perhaps it is also time to look back and ask what we are in this for. Are we in community, ministry or apostolate to make ourselves bigger by making others smaller. Are we using the community and our church to flaunt our knowledge of the Catechism and or liturgical structure of the Mass. Do we really understand the mission entrusted to us by Jesus? In other words what are we in it for. Is it to serve or is it a platform to display our personal ego. 

        And this brings us back again to the question of whether we are spending our lives for God, and in God or with God. Knowing the difference matters insofar as it will point us to the right direction in life. 𝐓𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐦 is the key to discipleship the end goal of which is to become a Christ to others.

        To know the difference matters insofar as it will point us to the right direction in life. To deny yourself, take up your cross and follow him is to spend a life 𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘥. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘈𝘶𝘨. 8, 2025)