Have ye received His image in your countenances?

First, I need to define what his image is in order to answer this. Mosiah 7:27 says that Christ would take upon Him the image of man, which is the same image after which man was created. So when it comes to my physical appearance, well, I suppose I look similar to Him. But do I look...Christlike? Do I portray the image of someone who is Christlike?

Alma 32:31 says, "every seed bringeth forth unto its own likeness." I wanted to be a Christlike seed and grow and learn and be more like Him!

Sometimes people have the reputation of being Christlike and having lots of faith. They just embody it. They give off this special light that I would say is having the image of Christ in their countenances. Remember that General Conference talk "The Light in Their Eyes?"

If someone was meeting me for the first time, knowing nothing about me, would they see a light from my eyes? If asked to describe me, would they describe me using some of the same qualities Christ has? Do I look like a Christian? Do I look like someone who is truly working to be like Christ?

I don't think I have His image in my countenance. I used to, but I've lost it. I've gotten too bombarded with challenges. My faith has taken a beating. I've sinned. I am in the process of repenting, and it's a long, painful, scary, nerve-wracking journey back. In some cases I haven't sinned but made unwise choices. That's even more aggravating. At least when I sin, I feel like I deserve unpleasant consequences. When I don't sin, it's harder to understand.

I feel like my challenges and hardships are more visible in my countenance than the image of Christ. I'm not sure what I can do about that right now, but at this point, the purpose of this evaluation is to take an assessment of my current spiritual well-being. Hopefully I'll be able to figure out how to receive Him image in my countenance as I go along.

How about you? Have you received Him image in your countenance? What do you do to receive Him image in your countenance? How do you maintain that image even when life gets hard?