To Be Like You

This is a song that is a prayer for forgiveness, for strength and of thanks.

To Be Like You lead sheet in new window

This song comes out my own experience.

(Verse one) I had acted in a way that was wrong, and I knew it. At first I avoided God, but shortly that became a struggle. So I started writing this song as my prayer of repentance. God forgave me, relationship with him was restored and with that came relief and calm. For me, it was another small point of learning in the journey of adopting God's value system of sacrificial love.

(Verse two) The problem was that I let my desires guide me.

The classic three temptations are to satisfy bodily appetites, have other people like us and to have our own kingdom to control. This is what the devil offered Jesus when He was tempted in the wilderness. (Mt 4:1-10) Jesus had rebuffed the temptations, but I had allowed myself to follow one of these.

When Jesus was praying in the garden the night before he was killed (Mt 26:37-42) he prayed for strength to do God's will. The experience before Him would be painful - especially because His relationship with the Father would be broken in substitution for us. He was checking with the Father to see if there was some alternative, but regardless, He chose the Father's will over His own.

This story of Jesus' life is also the model for us to live. And God especially honors our prayers for strength to be a sacrificial lover.

Verse three is thanks to God for His gifts of spiritual life, relationship with Him, and also the restoration of that relationship.