To Look Like Jesus
A dear friend wrote me just the other day and was thanking me for my prayers. He declared that I must have a pure heart for God to listen. While I am elated that He had seen Jesus in me, after all that is what I desire, I had to rectify this incorrect perception of me. I am but a man, and I believe I too am as Paul referenced, a “chief among sinners…” I try to love with the love of Christ, and there are times when I do so fiercely, and at other times I am as calloused as my own hands. I can pray over you and feel His blessings flowing though me and into your life, and I can also curse to the degree that a boatload of sailors will turn away abashed. I can stand stoically by your side as we suffer in chains, and I can throw a tantrum that any three year old would admire when I don’t get my way. I can practice abstinence, yet so relate to St. Augustine’s statement, “O Lord make me chaste, but not yet.” For even after 60 years, I still struggle with lust, temptation, my temper, and controlling my wicked tongue. No, my dear sweet friend Ray, I am not pure of heart, but I have been forgiven for what I was and for what I am, thus I am a new creation, created into the likeness of my Savior. Anything good from me that you see is due to His forgiveness.
C. Klingle
