Imitate Me
Nov 4, 2009 Print This Post
I have been working on my new series for Riv and I stumbled onto something I hadn’t noticed before. The Apostle Paul makes a similar comment in 6 places in the New Testament. Check this out:
“I urge you to imitate me.” – 1 Corinthians 4:16
“And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 11:1
“Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine…” – Philippians 3:17
“Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing.” – Phillipians 4:9
“For you know that you ought to imitate us.” – 2 Thessalonians 3:7
“But you, Timothy, certainly know what I teach, and how I live, and what my purpose in life is. You know my faith, my patience, my love, and my endurance.” – 2 Timothy 3:10
“Imitate me…pattern your life after mine.” Could you say this in good conscience? Paul (the self-proclaimed Chief of All Sinners) could say it. If you couldn’t say that, what in your life needs to change so you can lead others and tell them to live the way you live?
UPDATE: I found yet another example from Paul: “Acts 20:35 And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
November 6th, 2009 at 1:13 am
Great post. I’ve been thinking about this idea quite a bit lately. A couple things I’m considering: 1) Paul obviously wasn’t Jesus Christ – obviously wasn’t perfect. I would speculate one of the most attractive and compelling things about this previous Christian persecutor/murderer was his daily lifestyle of faith and repentance. He probably blew it on a regular basis. What a joy it must have been to shadow this courageous soul – seeing Paul own his sin, repent and be transformed right before your eyes! How cool! 2) I’m also speculating here – what Paul might have been saying is, \Follow the aspects of my life which most closely resemble the Savior…the stuff that doesn’t…flush it – please exemplify those character traits in your own lives.\ Am I off track here Noel?
November 6th, 2009 at 9:19 am
Earlier in Philippians 3, Paul says this:
“12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,* but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”