How many times has the praise resounded in the church, “To be like Jesus, how I long to be like Him”? Probably more times than any individual can count. As earnest as the desire may be, it is not something that happens through mental assent or drawn from a strong personal will. Being like Christ in reality is having the mind of Christ, only possible through a heart transformation.

Apostle Paul states this startling revelation when he says “let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). Paul is really saying let the mind of “self-emptying” take place that was in Christ. Christ, in obedience to the Father’s will, had to divest himself of all heavenly glory, coming in “the likeness of sinful flesh,” to reconcile mankind to God. Following the example of Christ, there must be a renunciation of all flesh and worldliness, receiving His nature, to have the mind of Christ (2 Timothy 2:21).