Becoming Like Abba: From the Inside Out
The journey is to adore and worship Him by emulating His thought, word, and deed unto greater works.
Walking the radiant path of Christ — becoming Zion, from the inside out.
“Except ye become as a little child…” – Mosiah 3:19
Becoming Like Abba — From the Inside Out
I keep this photo of myself as a toddler nearby — not because I miss being young, but because it reminds me who I’m becoming.
The journey of discipleship isn’t about becoming someone new — it’s about becoming someone true.
Childlike isn’t childish. It’s Christlike.
"The pearl of great price is the manifestation of Christ — the Light, the Truth, and the Way within us."
— Kent“For the natural man is an enemy to God… unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit… and becomes as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love…”
— Mosiah 3:19
And the path back to Him is not about striving to be someone else — it's about surrendering to become who you were always meant to be.
The Savior didn’t come to improve us. He came to remake us.
And that remaking begins with the heart of a child — yielded, trusting, and full of love.
Why “Be Like Abba”
The Savior didn’t just invite us to admire Him — He invited us to become like Him, and then to do the works He did.
To emulate Christ is to rise — to equal and excel, not apart from Him, but in Him. We are not the source of strength. He is. We are not the vine — we are the branches.
"...and greater works than these shall he do..."
— John 14:12
“Without me ye can do nothing.” — John 15:5
This is not self-mastery. It is Spirit-yoked sanctification.
It is walking forward with grace, knowing that even our weakness has purpose.
To Be Like Abba means:
To abide in the Vine
To labor in the Yoke
To grow in grace until His image is formed in us
This is not spiritual minimalism.
This is spiritual inheritance — the path of those becoming joint-heirs with Christ.
Radiance, Refinement, and Zion
This isn’t about mirroring Christ like a polished surface.
It’s about radiating His nature — not just being filled with light, but being fit to carry it.
“If men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness… then will I make weak things become strong unto them.” — Ether 12:27
Yes, it is about performance — not driven by ego, but by covenant.
It is the Olympic-level training of body and mind, brought under the discipline of the Spirit. We yield like elite athletes — not for earthly applause, but for eternal glory.
C.S. Lewis said God will not be content to leave us as cottages — He intends to make the feeblest among us into a god:
Not merely palaces — but temples.
This is the kind of preparation that builds not just disciples, but a people. A body. A Zion.
“…ye must pray always, and not faint… that He will consecrate thy performance…” — 2 Nephi 32:9
“…dazzling, radiant, immortal…”“And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness…” — Moses 7:18
They are they who do and receive every good thing — not just then, but now.
For even as God is the same yesterday, today, and forever,
so too must we be firm, steadfast, and valiant in our testimony of Christ —
a living witness of Him from word to sinew.
They became one in Him, as He is one with the Father.
They didn’t just follow His doctrine — they embodied it.
This is how Zion is built —
Not by waiting passively for Christ to return…
but by becoming like Him, and one in Him, now.
“What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.”
Not Just Waiting — Becoming
“He will consecrate thy performance…”
The day Tina and I crossed the Spartan finish line wasn’t about ego — it was about offering effort. Consecrated, uncomfortable, embodied effort.
We weren’t just enduring — we were enacting something sacred:
The truth that becoming like Abba doesn’t happen by watching or waiting.
It happens by doing.
I’ve heard it said we should pray for the Second Coming.
And while I long for that day, I believe the greater prayer is this:
We don’t just dream of mansions above.
We dig the foundation now.
We don’t just discover the pearl of great price.
We become it.
We don’t just hope for a better world.
Make me ready.
Make us ready.
Make Zion ready.
We hope through faith, and that hope moves us to act.
(See Ether 12:4; Moroni 7:42–48)
“If ye are not one, ye are not mine.”
This is the call of Be Like Abba —
To build Zion by becoming Zion.
To become greater followers of righteousness (Abraham 1:2).
To become as Moses — in the similitude of the Only Begotten (Moses 1:6).
To become the kind of people in whom Christ is fully formed.
If this resonates — if your spirit is stirred —
then this is your time to rise, to run, and to become.
“…when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is…”