1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
Imitation has gotten a bad rap. I am not talking about the designer watches purchased from someone’s pocket while standing on a street corner in a big city. I am talking about our lives. When our younger brother or sister imitated the good things about us, they were saying they wanted to be like us. Who do you imitate? I am not talking about becoming an exact copy, but finding good in others and then following their example. Notice that Paul wants to be followed only in those areas where he is following Jesus. I am sure there were areas of Paul’s life that were not positive examples. In just the same way, there are areas in other’s lives that are like Jesus and so should be followed. Hopefully there are areas in your life that are like Jesus. The more areas there are the better, because people are following your example. We have all seen people whose actions don’t match their words. Some discrepancies are more obvious than others. Some jump right out and bite your nose. The Governor of New York has been in the headlines this week. We don’t want to emulate his actions and life in that area. But I am sure there are some areas that are worth emulating. We might have to look with diligence, but I am sure there are some areas. So too with our lives. Some areas are not worth emulating since they are not like Jesus’ life. But there are probably some small spots that look like Jesus. The challenge for the Jesus-follower is to increase the ratio, yielding more and more areas to Jesus’ influence, and more and more areas of our will to obedience. Our lives over time should reflect Jesus to an ever greater degree.
The Arnold Journey 