THE CHARACTER MOULDED AFTER THE DIVINE SIMILITUDE
“That which we have seen and heard declare we to you, that you also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” 1 John 1:3.
As the mind dwells upon Christ, the character is molded after the divine similitude. The thoughts are pervaded with a sense of His goodness, His love. We contemplate His character, and thus He is in all our thoughts. His love encloses us. If we gaze even a moment upon the sun in its meridian glory when we turn away our eyes the image of the sun will appear in everything upon which we look.
Thus it is when we behold Jesus; everything we look upon reflects His image, the Sun of Righteousness. We cannot see anything else or talk of anything else. His image is imprinted upon the eye of the soul, and affects every portion of our daily life, softening and subduing our whole nature. By beholding, we are conformed to the divine similitude, even the likeness of Christ. To all with whom we associate we reflect the bright and cheerful beams of His righteousness. We have become transformed in character; for heart, soul, and mind, are irradiated by the reflection of Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. Here again, there is the realization of a personal, living influence dwelling in our hearts by faith. –Messages to Young People, p. 160.
The whole mind must be molded by the Holy Spirit. Divine power will combine with human effort when we seek earnestly to be complete in Christ Jesus. The Lord will help everyone who seeks Him with all his heart. He shall have the light of life, and that light shines from the living oracles. As the light of the sun sheds its warmth throughout all the world, so the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness will shed health-giving rays into the heart. –Sons and Daughters of God, p. 285.