Becoming like Him

What do we need to do to become more like Him?  What changes do we need to make? 
In the Book of Mormon, we read in Alma 5:14,
"And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?"

President Ezra Taft Benson taught why it became important for Alma to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ rather than serve as chief judge:  “The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. … The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature” (in Ensign, Nov. 1985, 6).

Isn't that amazing?  The world would have us change only our environments, but Christ changes our very nature.  One of my favorite authors is Max Lucado.  He says:  "As we behold Him, we become like Him." Think about that short statement for a moment.  What does that mean to you?  To me, it means that as I admire someone, I become more like them.  When I admire how someone looks, how they cut their hair, wear their makeup, decorate their home or how they mother their children, - don't I slowly change the way I look or the clothes I wear or the things I do to reflect those things that I admire most in others? 
As I admire my Savior, don't I desire to take those attributes that I most admire and make them my own?  Isn't that what I am trying to do with my life? 
I am trying just a little bit harder to live each day just a little more like Him. 

Being in a college choir is a great example of this.  When I first started going to choir, I wasn't actually going to do more than listen and wait while Miracle sang.  The director is the one who started me singing.  The biggest difference between that choir and any other that I have sang in is simple the volume of sound that surrounds you when you are all singing together.  No one is quiet.  No one is reserved.  The sound surrounds you from all sides and makes you sing better than you ever thought you could. 
The first time I heard them, I was startled, but within a few moments, I was inspired.  As the voices swelled around me, I lifted mine.  Did I sing better?  I don't honestly know.  I would sure like to think so! 
But I also know that I couldn't hear myself within all that amazing sound.  Even though I couldn't hear myself, I know for a fact, that I tried harder.  The music that surrounded me, brought out the best in me because it surrounded me, lifted me up, and it mattered.  My heart and soul ached to be a part of something so beautiful.

It this same way, I desire to be more like Jesus.  To look like Him, to be influenced by Him, but most of all, to act like Him.  To have Him change my heart so that I am more like Him from the inside out.  To have Him surround me and to fill me with His Holy Spirit.  To have His power bring out the very best in me. 

Who knows, a few moments surrounded by His influence might just change the way I am. 
Forever.