It’s safe to say that Jesus was a true image of God, as any child is something of an image of their parents. But I suspect that Jesus, when he walked those roads of ancient Israel, was more of an image of God.

I also suspect that when God first created humans—Adam and Eve—that they were almost as much of an image of God as Jesus. But of course, sin entered in and tarnished that image, nearly obliterating it in some people.

I don’t know about you, but I want that image back. I want to be an image of God … again. How? Well, Jesus told us. Deny my Self and let the Spirit of Jesus fill me with Himself.

In referring to Jesus, John the Baptist once said, “He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30) That’s my constant prayer, for the Spirit of Jesus to become greater in me, and for my natural, flawed, human nature Self—you know, the selfish, self-centered, prideful, greedy, blah, blah, blah part of me that has often dominated what people see—to become less. Jesus must become greater, my Self must become less. Actually, my hope is that the Spirit of Jesus becomes everything in me, and my Self becomes nothing.

And the more there is of the Holy Spirit within me, the more I will be an image of God, as Jesus is an image of God.