18/07/2026
Examine Yourselves: Are We Becoming Like Christ?
One of the greatest truths many believers have neglected is that the Christian life is meant to be a life of continual growth. Salvation is not the end of the journey; it is the beginning. God expects His children to mature, and that maturity is evidenced by the fruit they bear.
Jesus said:
«"By their fruits you will know them." (Matthew 7:20, NKJV)»
Every genuine believer has stumbled at one time or another. Scripture says:
«"For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again." (Proverbs 24:16, NKJV)»
The issue is not whether we have ever fallen, but whether Christ is continually transforming us. As we walk with Him, we gradually bear more fruit. We are not the judges of our own spiritual condition; God is.
Jesus said:
«"I am the vine, you are the branches... Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit." (John 15:5, 2, NKJV)»
Pruning is painful. It leaves raw edges. God removes pride, self-reliance, bitterness, and everything unlike Christ. Yet that painful process produces believers who increasingly resemble Jesus.
The world often mistakes spiritual maturity for weakness. Jesus taught us to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Him (Luke 9:23). James tells us to count it all joy when we face trials because God uses them to produce maturity (James 1:2–4).
To the natural man, such a life appears foolish.
«"The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God... nor can he know them." (1 Corinthians 2:14, NKJV)»
Our culture celebrates pride, revenge, dominance, and self-promotion. Today, a man who shows humility, gentleness, and restraint is often mocked as weak. Yet Jesus—the most powerful man ever to walk the earth—displayed a completely different character.
He raised the dead, healed the sick, calmed storms, and cast out demons. Yet when He was arrested, He willingly submitted to chains, insults, and humiliation.
He told Peter:
«"Do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?" (Matthew 26:53, NKJV)»
Yet He chose not to.
That is not weakness. That is perfect strength under perfect control.
The character of Christ is perhaps nowhere more beautifully described than in these words:
«"A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory." (Matthew 12:20, NKJV; cf. Isaiah 42:3)»
A bruised reed is damaged but not destroyed. A smoking flax is a wick barely producing any flame.
Most people throw such things away.
Jesus does not.
He does not crush those who are weak. He does not extinguish the faint hope of those barely holding on. Instead, He restores, heals, and patiently fans the dying flame back into a living fire.
How different this is from the attitude often found among religious people.
When a woman caught in adultery was brought before Him, Jesus did not excuse her sin, but neither did He condemn her to death.
«"Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more." (John 8:11, NKJV)»
He offered both forgiveness and a call to repentance.
When society despised Zacchaeus because he was a tax collector, Jesus chose to eat in his house (Luke 19:1–10).
When others rejected sinners, Jesus brought them hope.
This is the heart of God.
As Christ is formed within us, we become people who carry hope into hopeless places. We become people who love the rejected, encourage the fallen, restore the broken, and call sinners to repentance without crushing them.
The opposite spirit is found in the Pharisees.
They possessed immense knowledge of Scripture, yet failed to recognize the Messiah standing before them. They rejected Jesus because He welcomed those they despised.
That spirit still exists today.
It can exist in any one of us if we are not continually transformed by God's Spirit.
Jesus taught:
«"Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48, NKJV)»
How did He define that perfection?
By pointing to God's impartial love:
«"...For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5:45, NKJV)»
Spiritual maturity is revealed not by how we treat those who love us, but by how we treat those who fail, oppose, or even wound us.
Sadly, some of the deepest wounds believers receive come from fellow church members—people who sing worship songs with tears in their eyes yet speak words that destroy rather than heal.
This ought not to be so.
Isaiah also prophesied concerning Christ:
«"He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him." (Isaiah 53:2, NKJV)»
The Messiah was not attractive by worldly standards. Those looking only with natural eyes completely missed Him.
That explains why Jesus often concluded His teaching by saying:
«"He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" (Matthew 11:15, NKJV)»
Not everyone hears with spiritual ears.
God continually calls His people to bear fruit.
Those who bear fruit are pruned so they bear more.
Those who refuse to bear fruit are removed.
Jesus also taught that the wheat and the tares would grow together until the harvest (Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43). Outwardly they appear similar, but eventually their true nature is revealed.
That should cause every believer to examine himself.
Jesus warned:
«"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven... And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'" (Matthew 7:21–23, NKJV)»
Likewise, the Jews in John 8 believed they belonged to God because of their religious heritage.
They declared:
«"We have one Father—God." (John 8:41, NKJV)»
Yet Jesus answered:
«"If God were your Father, you would love Me..." (John 8:42, NKJV)»
Finally He declared:
«"You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do." (John 8:44, NKJV)»
Their profession did not match their character.
Their words claimed God.
Their lives reflected another father.
The apostle John later summarized this truth:
«"In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother." (1 John 3:10, NKJV)»
Therefore, let every believer examine himself before the Lord.
Ask Him honestly, "What kind of branch am I? Am I bearing the fruit of Christ, or merely the appearance of religion?"
It is possible to know many Scriptures, attend church faithfully, and appear deeply religious, yet possess the spirit of the Pharisees rather than the Spirit of Christ.
May we never become people who crush bruised reeds or extinguish smoldering wicks.
Instead, may Christ be formed in us so completely that everyone who meets us encounters His gentleness, His truth, His holiness, and His hope.This version retains your central warning while emphasizing biblical self-examination rather than pronouncing judgment on others, reflecting passages such as 2 Corinthians 13:5: "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith."
