Christians whose lives display the following features:

Doxology, the habit taught and modeled by Paul of constantly praising God and giving him thanks;

Humility, the downward growth that comes by dwelling on the free, boundless,, almighty grace of God that achieves the salvation of sinners, including oneself, through the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ;

Generosity, the whole-hearted giving of oneself and one’s resources in order to show love and render service both to God and to others;

Honesty, the refusal to cut moral corners, practice deception or come to terms with injustice;

Intensity, a spirit that rejects euphoric sloth and laziness in favor of maximum effort to further God’s cause, extend Christ’s kingdom, and make the Savior known, and that goes flat out with an eye on the goal as one does when running a race;

Bravery, which, though sometimes trembling in its shoes, stands firm for Christ against all forms of opposition, belittling and ridicule; and

Solidarity with the church, both worldwide and local, the people of God who are the body and bride of Christ and one’s own spiritual family, so that one never wanders off into any form of churchless individualism, as if one were the only pebble on God’s beach.”

– J.I. Packer, From the periodical CRUX, Spring 2007, vol. 43. no. 1, p. 6.

Here are a few questions that I have been asking myself:

Which of these features is most absent from my life right now? In order words, where do I need to grow the most? What is my specific action plan to do so?

Secondly, where does our church body need to grow the most? Which of these features needs the most shoring up at Trinity? What is our plan to help our church not only grow in that particular feature but also in each of these features of Christlikeness?