Conformed to the Image of Christ with Megan Hill
In this episode Lauren and Kimberly chat with Megan Hill about what it means to be conformed to the image of Christ. Megan is the author of five books, most recently: Patience: Waiting with Hope. An editor for The Gospel Coalition, Megan lives in Massachusetts with her husband and four children. We pray this episode with Megan, Kimberly, and Lauren encourages you to keep looking to Christ as you seek to imitate him!
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
What does it mean to be conformed to Christ’s image?
How can we seek to be conformed to Christ’s image in a way that doesn’t tend towards works-based righteousness?
There’s a difference between knowing how we should be and act and actually getting there...how do we bridge that gap?
How does Christ’s example actually help us to conform more to his image? How does looking to Christ move us be more like him?
What means does God use to conform us more into his image?
How might the difficulty of life’s circumstances serve to press us to be more conformed to Christ’s image?
What is Christ’s attitude or heart towards us as we seek (and repeatedly fail) to be conformed to him?
Christ is more than just our example, he’s also the one who draws near, who comes alongside and enables us to be more like him… So, could you expound a little more on that role that Christ himself plays in our conforming to his image?
What is the end goal of seeking to be conformed to Christ’s image?
How is our being conformed to Christ tied to our worship?
NOTEWORTHY QUOTES
“Sanctification is a work of the Spirit.”
“The Spirit convicts us of sin and gives us the power to put sin to death in our life; he also gives us a love for holiness and Christ-likeness and encourages us to walk in paths of obedience.”
“Being conformed to the image of Christ is this process of the Spirit working in us to make us more like our Savior, more like Jesus.”
“We want to imitate the Savior whom we love.”
“The commands of God are a picture of Christ. When Jesus says ‘love your neighbor as yourself,’ well that’s a picture of what Christ himself was like.”
“Jesus is a forgiving Savior; that’s how we come to be his children in the first place, by his forgiveness.”
“Our desire is to know Christ more and experience his loveliness and to bring glory to him. As the Westminster Catechism says, ‘What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy him forever.” Well that’s the goal of being more like Christ - that we would enjoy him and that we would bring glory to him.”
“Our heart goal is not to bring glory to ourselves or to enjoy ourselves more for having “arrived,” our heart goal is to know Christ more and to enjoy him more. When that’s our goal it keeps us from putting the focus on ourselves and helps us put the focus on Jesus.”
“Jesus is a great example of how to deal kindly and lovingly with people who are very needy.”
“Christ is delighted by us becoming like him.”
“Jesus’ great goal - because he loves us - is to make us perfect and holy, and that’s what he’s going to do.”
“We are going to be made perfect. Jesus is not powerless to do this, Jesus is powerful to do this. And on the last day we’re going to be made perfect. So by looking to the end we can be encouraged now that these little tiny baby steps along the way, they don’t look like much, but one day Jesus is going to wipe away every tear and every sin and we’re going to be perfect and splendorous and it’s going to be great.”
“It’s not at all that we’re on our own in this, but we have the Spirit of Christ who's living in us and is working in us.”
“We’re not seeking to be like Christ for our own glory, but for the Lord’s glory.”
“As we see Christ being formed in the people around us in our church, in our homes, in our communities, we can give praise for his work in other people.”
“The Lord is working in all of us and he’s making all of us look more like Christ.”
“As we read through even the law of God, it can sometimes feel very burdensome. But we can see it as a picture of Jesus and something that we aspire to because it’s a picture of what Jesus is like and we want to be like Jesus.”
“Lord, make me more like Jesus.”
“What is Jesus like? The more we know him the more we’ll know to be like him.”
“For every look at yourself take ten looks at Christ.” - Robert Murray McCheyne
RESOURCES
Meditating on Christ himself to see what Jesus is like
Asking people to pray for us and help us to grow to look more like Jesus
BOOKS BY MEGAN
Contentment: Seeing God’s Goodness
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
SIMPLE JOYS
Being part of God’s people
Singing hymns of praise
Memorizing Scripture
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Do you have a tendency to tend towards works-based righteousness? How did this episode encourage you to look to Jesus as you seek to be conformed to him?
What means is God currently using to conform you more into his image?
How can you draw encouragement from meditating on Christ’s attitude towards you as you seek (and fail) to be conformed to him?
What small areas of growth in Christlikeness can you see in your life that you can praise God for today?
What might you implement or change based on what you learned in this episode?
IMPORTANT NOTE
Journeywomen interviews are intended to serve as a springboard for continued study in the context of your local church. While we carefully select guests each week, interviews do not imply Journeywomen's endorsement of all writings and positions of the interviewee or any other resources mentioned.
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