Christmas is not only a time to get close to family, friends, and neighbors; it is also the best time to get close to Jesus and be like Him. Since the aim of Christianity is to make Christians more Christ-like with each and every day, shouldn't we desire to become more like Jesus this season?

More like Jesus

This season presents to us various opportunities to grow in Christ-likeness. People of all walks of life, Christian or not, celebrate this season for various reasons.

We Christians celebrate this season in gratefulness to God for the coming of Christ Jesus, the Saviour of the world. Although we know that December 25 isn't the exact date of Jesus' birth, we thank God that He came in the form of a human to save us.

Non-Christians, on the other hand, celebrate Christmas in the spirit of thanksgiving and generosity. Though they do not include Christ Jesus in their Christmas celebrations, they celebrate by giving gifts to each other and celebrating one another.

Seriously, we Christians should grab this opportunity to be more like Jesus! If He were here in the flesh, we'd see Jesus doing the most unthinkable of things. After all, He is really different:

"And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?" When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."" (Mark 2:16-17)

Be like Jesus

So without further ado, I would like to share to everyone some ways we can be more like Jesus this Christmas. I know we all strive to be like Him in our own ways, but let's agree that His ways are better than ours (see Isaiah 55:8-9). If we want to be like Him, we've got to think and do things like He does.

1) Ask God for the heart to love who He loves

First, we've got to ask God for a heart that loves the people that He loves. Many of us find it hard to do, because as humans we're naturally self-preserving. We love to take care of ourselves first. That's human.

Jesus, however, saw the pitiful state of man and went out of His way to save us. He made Himself of no reputation just to reach out to us. What love is that, right?

2) Reach out to the "sinners" around you

This is very hard for many of us to do, but let's face it: we are all sinners merely saved by grace. We can't think that we're better than the unsaved and expect to be like Christ. That's just so self-defeating.

If we want to be like Christ, we've got to reach out to those who were just like us before Christ saved us - sinners in need of God's grace. Be careful in reaching out, though.

3) Don't worry about public opinion as you do God's will and love people

These three things I share to you, friends, are interconnected. One cannot go without the other. First we ask God for a heart to love who He loves, and then next we love those who He loves. The last part is keep going even if people ridicule you in doing what God wants.

Jesus Himself faced so much opposition from religious leaders, the kind that should've loved the people but didn't. When we love sinners, the self-righteous and the "holier-than-thou" crowd will really react in one way or another. This is a fact we cannot deny.

So what do we do? We love them too. We reject their opposition to our efforts to be Christ-like, but we don't hate them. We pray for them, and we love them with the love of Christ as well. Doing this makes for a win-win situation every single time.