The Music & the Spoken Word broadcast airs live via TV, radio, and internet stream on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. mountain time. For information on other airtimes, visit “Airing Schedules” at musicandthespokenword.org.

Music

Conductor: Mack Wilberg
Organist: Brian Mathias
Announcer: Lloyd Newell

“Antiphon,” from Five Mystical Songs
Music: Ralph Vaughan Williams
Lyrics: George Herbert

“How Bright Is the Day”¹
Music and Lyrics: American folk hymn
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg

“The Ash Grove” (organ solo)
Music: Welsh melody
Arrangement: John Longhurst

“I Think the World Is Glorious”²
Music: Alexander Schreiner
Lyrics: Anna Johnson
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg

“Hosanna in excelsis”
Music: Johann Pachelbel
Lyrics: Words from Matthew 21:9
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg

“May We Be More Like Thee”
Music: Mack Wilberg
Lyrics: Lloyd Newell

“Press Forward, Saints”³
Music: Vanja Y. Watkins
Lyrics: Marvin K. Gardner
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg 

1. From the album Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.
2.  From the album Teach Me to Walk in the Light.
3. From the album Let Us All Press On.

The Spoken Word

Striving to Become Like Him

The word strive means something slightly different from the word try. To strive suggests purposeful effort. To try, on the other hand, connotes something a little less certain. You try something when you’re still exploring whether success is possible or even desirable. If it doesn’t work out, well, at least you tried. But when you strive, you keep going, no matter what. In the effort to overcome our weaknesses and change for the better, we don’t just try; we strive.

In our striving, we’re blessed to have exemplary people around us—people we can look up to—who are also striving and succeeding. We notice how they solve problems, face difficulties, and get through tough times. We might admire their hard work and grit, their generosity and integrity. Imposing mountains seem easier to scale when someone we trust has gone even just a few steps before us, blazing a trail.

Sometimes the mentor we emulate is a colleague, a friend, or a family member. It might be an ancestor whose story has been passed down for generations. But if we could strive to be like anyone, to look to anyone for the embodiment of goodness and grace, the best practice is to emulate the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave us the perfect example to follow.

It may seem unrealistic, even absurd, to strive to emulate perfection, but it was Jesus Himself who invited us to follow Him. “I have given you an example,” He said, “that ye should do as I have done” (John 13:15). That’s a pursuit that will take a lifetime of striving—maybe even longer. Where do we start? The best approach might be to begin with the attribute Jesus said would identify His followers: “As I have loved you, … love one another. By this shall all [people] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:34–35).

This is the trail that the Lord blazed for us. Whenever we show love and compassion, whenever we are kind and forgiving and fair-minded, we are following Him. We are helping to bring His light into our lives and into the world. That is a goal worth striving for.