When my children were growing up, they loved the Disney movie, Aladdin, especially the antics of the magical genie. One scene has him buzzing around Aladdin’s head in the form of a genie-faced bee, giving him advice on how to win the attention of beautiful Princess Jasmine. “Be-e-e-e-e-e yourself!”, he hums, and sure enough, it is Aladdin’s true self she falls in love with. We adopted that funny movie line as one of our inside family jokes.
The condition of being is an abstract concept difficult to define. One of Webster’s definitions of being is to have a specified qualification or characterization. The book of Ephesians contains a list of six be’s which characterize a believer in Christ.
1. Be made new in the attitude of your minds. – Ephesians 4:23
A believer has a new essential nature given at his spiritual birth. This new nature produces a new way of thinking, which in turn, produces true righteousness and holiness. A new standing in Christ should demonstrate a new state markedly different from the old.
2. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. – Ephesians 4:32
The vacuum left by giving up natural vices (vs. 31), will be filled by positive qualities like kindness, compassion and forgiveness, manifested through Christ living in us. Because Christ has forgiven us, we bring to others what we have received from Him.
3. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. – Ephesians 5:1
We can never be fully like God, but like children, we can learn through imitation. The sacrificial way Jesus showed His love for us not only procured our salvation but also gave us an example of the way we are to live for the sake of others.
4. Be very careful, then, how you live˗˗not as unwise but as wise… – Ephesians 5:15
Previously Paul wrote about the darkness of sin and the light of living for Christ. This is a warning to turn away from the foolishness of worldly conduct, choosing to live in the light of our position as God’s children.
5. Be filled with the Spirit. – Ephesians 5:18b
A contrast is made previously between being drunk on wine and being filled with the Spirit. In both conditions, the person is under a power outside himself. The literal translation is be being filled with the Spirit, a continuous process which gives the Holy Spirit freedom to influence for good the life of a believer.
6. Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. – Ephesians 6:10
Our own strength is ineffectual against the enemy. In our weakness we become dependent on the strength of our all powerful Lord to fight spiritual battles for us.
Our state of being is either enhanced or lessened by how much we allow Christ to work in us and through us. Exchanging our own nature for that of Christ’s is a life-long transformation with eternal results.