Pattern your life after me?
“Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.” Philippians 3:17
Paul is speaking to the church in Philippi and gives quite the dissertation explaining to them his credentials first of all, and that he had the authority to even speak to them. He was a Jew by birth, but had abandoned everything in order to follow Jesus Christ.
In verses ten and eleven he says,‘That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death…”
He didn’t want to just know about Him, he wanted that personal relationship with Him.
And finally, he gets to what he wants to leave them with… “Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example.”
Paul was telling them to learn from what he had learned. Follow in his footsteps, pattern their lives after his life. Why?
- Because Paul was following Jesus Christ.
- He had walked where Jesus walked.
- He had endured trials and tribulations.
- Paul had also been
- beaten
- threatened
- starved
- imprisoned
- lied about
- stoned
- and many, many other atrocities had been committed against him.
And in all of these things he had NOT wavered. He had learned to give God praise, and to endure, despite his sufferings.
“Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.” 2 Corinthians 11:24-28.
The Early Christians didn’t have the New Testament to read…no self-help books, Matthew Henry commentaries or Google search to look up hundreds and hundreds of devotions and sermons online.
But they had Paul.
He had lived through persecution after being the Persecutor! Yet, in all of those things he still continued to be faithful and his concern was for the care of the churches.
Could we say the same as Paul did? Could we assuredly tell others to, “Pattern your life after me.”? (Of course correct grammar would change my title to “Pattern your life after mine”? But then my graphic image wouldn’t rhyme!) (insert smile here).
A sobering thought!
We have all heard it said that we may be the only Jesus that some people ever see or the only Bible they will ever read. That is why we must be so careful the way we live our Christian lives. That doesn’t mean we walk on eggshells all the time, scared to death we are going to make mistakes.
“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” Matthew 5:14,15.
What it does mean is that we should be sure to spend time with the Savior. And the more time we spend with Him, the more we become like Him…the more we radiate His glory and His goodness…then others will see the Lord Jesus Christ IN us. They will want to know Him because He shines through us.
That is what Paul was talking about…pattern your life after me because I KNOW HIM!!
Intentional and active pursuit. Love it! Thank you for stopping by.
I’ve been thinking about the power of living a life honoring to God as it relates to speaking into the lives of others. When we think that our faith walk doesn’t matter in the lives of others, we miss out on the opportunities to encourage others. This is an intentional and active pursuit. Your words remind me of the other side of it.
Living a life honoring to God speaks to others. It is a message in itself. While my life as a message is not actively pursuing others, I must be intentional with my life.
In both ways, my walk with Jesus matters. When I get discouraged, I know I cannot give up. I must press on not only because Jesus is calling me but also because I am a living, breathing message of the Gospel.
That is my hearts cry! That my life is worth being patterned after. Living as His beloved. Sharing His faithfulness and goodness in my life. Radiating His glory from being in His presence. Amen to this post and the challenge that we all need to take inventory of often! Blessings Love, Rachael @ Inking the Heart
You always give much food for thought.
Blessings to you sweet friend.
Provoking post. We certainly can’t do it in the flesh. It is the love of our Savior that promotes us to action in love… it is the actions that speak so boldly of who we are and Who we belong to… Thanks for the reminder.
Amen Sharon, increasingly look like Him… ♥
Yes they are! thank you for stopping by! Blessings…
Yes, so thankful for the good examples in our lives. Thank you Holly for Testimony Tuesday!
Amen! Thank you Joseph for that thought! It’s not about me!
That is so true Joanne! We are whether we want to be or not! Thank you friend for stopping by!
Great post and reminder to be careful how we live out our lives of faith in front of others. So grateful to have many good examples in my life and pray that I will be the same for those I love. Thanks for linking up for Testimony Tuesday!
Paul asked others to follow in his example because He’d allowed himself to be who Christ wanted him to be and therefore he was telling others, its not about yourself but who Christ says you are in Him.
I am humbled by this post. I’ve never wanted to be anyone’s example because I know how deeply flawed that I am, but we really cannot make that choice. We WILL be an example… it is up to us to determine the “of what”.
It definitely is a sobering thought to imagine having to tell others to follow me. But your point is well made and one we all need to take seriously because people ARE following us whether we realize it or not…. Thanks for sharing your insight!
It is a sobering thought to ponder how well I reflect the Lord. Most days it’s a fairly blurry image. But, what a treasure it is to have the Bible. In the pages of God’s Word, we have example after example (including Paul) to follow. And, most of all, we have the perfect example of our Savior.
May we follow in His footsteps, and increasingly look like Him!
GOD BLESS!
Oh Mia I CANNOT imagine the suffering our Lord endured for US!! I love what you said…Faith is our ability to receive God’s ability!! That is awesome! I pray you are strengthened in your body today dear friend. Love you… ♥
Dear Nannette
You are writing about things that I feel strongly about. Can you imagine what suffering our Lord Jesus went through on this earth, for to be fully man, He not once used His power as God. He trusted our Pappa’s power to always work in and through Him! Paul was not very popular under the religionist with all their “Do’s” and “Don’t do’s”. And he counted nothing more important than to experience Jesus’ resurrected life and to know Him personally. He refused to be bound up again in his old religion, Judaism. And that is what we also have to choose; either us trying our utmost to be good to produce the fruit of the Spirit through religion, or just abiding deep in Jesus allowing His life and grace to work in and through us. Faith to me is our ability to receive God’s ability; just like Jesus and Paul did. Great post, my friend.
Blessings XX
Mia