A priesthood holder puts his discipleship of Christ before his own identity. As the Savior offers Himself as a sacrifice, holders of the priesthood make their own supreme sacrifice - their natural identity. This includes letting go of their pride, ego, and sense of self-importance. Rather than clinging to a set of self-determined attributes and attempting to derive self-esteem from that chosen identity, the priesthood holder releases his own interest in favor of becoming like Christ. This is how the very countenance of God becomes engraven upon men and women.

Priesthood holders become disciples of Christ, which means their role as a minister and their intent to work for the salvation of another becomes the same as the Savior's mission. This intent is the sole purpose behind all callings extended through the power of the priesthood.

The Savior explains that to be a disciple of Christ, we must place Him first, even above our own life.

The key ingredients to having a Christlike identity are to 1) see all others from His point of view, void of all prejudices and biases, and 2) minimize prejudices and biases others may have for ourselves. This second one may not be perfectly accomplished as Heavenly Father's children have agency to view the world and others how they desire. However, there is often a portion of truth about us found in the view of others, even if only a sliver.

The prophet Joseph Smith explained that even when allegations of a poor character were put upon him, although untrue, he often was able to examine himself and find at least a small amount of flaw within himself related to the allegation. He used that insight to re-align himself with God and minimize such prejudices, so far as he could. In other words, even from untrue character allegations from his worst enemies, he learned something about himself and made adjustments. In so doing, he allowed his enemies to refine him.

Another important key is to avoid judging others. We are empowered to avoid judgmental views of those around us when we realize that we cannot see that person as the Savior does. He knows everything about that person and what has brought them to that point in their life. To avoid judgment of others is to abandon our need to view another's situation from our point of view. And when we seek to view the issue from that person's perspective, we are better able to exhibit patience, let go of judgmental feelings, and expand heart-felt charity. Although we may not be able to fully understand the motives of another as Christ does, we can emulate Him by allowing ourselves to feel pure love for them while we place the rest of the problem in His hands.

The world would teach that to maintain self-esteem, one must rigidly stand by thier chosen identity. But, the Savior teaches us to sacrifice that portion of ourselves and to take upon us His identity. To let go of one’s own ego in order to establish a more divine identity is perhaps the greatest sacrifice we can offer to God in this life.

Another important attribute we develop as we take on a Christlike identity and abandon our rigid perspective, is the ability to see things from the point of view of others more effectively, which places us in a better position to meet the needs of that individual. We exhibit pure empathy while attempting to minister to their needs. Consider how the Apostle Paul adjusted himself so that he could relate with, and better help those with whom he came in contact.

In summary, we take on a Christlike identity as we abandon the world's view of self-identity and willingly sacrifice our personal self to be more like the Savior.

As we see the true value of others, regardless of their current circumstances, we are better able to relate to them. As we view circumstances from their point of view, we increase our ability to fulfill the role of minister and help others increase their discipleship of Christ, which is the primary purpose of the priesthood.

*comments added by the author