Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV)
While the Holy Spirit indwells every true believer in Christ (He will never leave us), He does not force us to be more and more like Jesus. He empowers us, but He does not make us. He helps us in our weaknesses, yet we are also commanded in Scripture to make every effort which means “to apply ourselves and to bring alongside with all diligence and zeal”. Christlikeness is not automatic when we become believers (to say the least). It requires our work. Indeed, becoming like Jesus takes every bit of effort we can muster – and we never totally get there either until we are at home with the Lord. The luring of the world, Satan and self, requires both our diligence to overcome, along with the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. As the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 (NIV): “Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
As believers in the Lord Jesus, we want to “escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires”, as Peter writes. God’s desire is for us to shine His light – to walk as He walked. The great Apostle Paul again tells us in Philippians 2:15-16 (NIV): “shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life.” Jesus does not want us to blend with the world rather stand out – shining forth His light – pointing others to Him. Also, it does us well to remember, when we choose to wallow in the pigpen with the world we get very dirty. When we play with fire we often get burned, Amen? And sin always costs dearly. To be sure, God has better plans for us than that. We are to work hard at participating fully in God’s divine nature our faith being the foundation. By seeking to walk as Jesus walked we silence the talk of those who have not come out of the darkness into His marvelous light.
Our work for the Lord is to be unhurried and often unseen by the world – we live our lives for an audience of One – fixing our eyes on what is not seen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal. M’Cheyne wrote: “When the heart is at rest in Jesus – unseen, unheard by the world – the Spirit comes, and softly fills the believing soul, quickening all, renewing all within.”
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:5-8 (NIV)