The true believer is a person in whom Christ dwells. The new birth is nothing less than Christ coming into a man’s heart, taking possession, ruling and causing that man to become a follower of him. Anything less than this is not Christianity. The new birth creates a desire in the heart to be like Christ, causing the person who is born again to seek and strive after the perfection of Christ’s character in himself. We know that this perfect conformity to Christ cannot be attained in this life. But that fact in no way hinders us from seeking it. The highest aspiration of the believing heart is to be like Christ. His submission and dedication to the will of God and the glory of God, his patience, love, kindness, tenderness and forgiveness, his self-denial, self-sacrifice, humility and unflinching boldness in the cause of God are things all of God’s people seek. Let us ever seek these things ardently. When we close our eyes in death, we shall have this blessed conformity to Christ!

 Donald S. Fortner, Grace for Today: Daily Devotional Readings, (Danville, KY: Grace Baptist Church of Danville, 1986), 9.