Everyone needs the power of example, and God has given us wonderful examples to follow in Christian friends and biblical figures. Someone’s following after you, so make Jesus the center of your life and set an example for those watching!
This is Joni Eareckson Tada sharing hope.
You know, earlier this week I was asked to resolve a sticky issue that involved some friends. Frankly, I felt totally unsuited to give the sort of advice that was needed – I mean, I wasn’t even certain what I should say. And so, yes, I prayed for wisdom – God’s ideas are always better than mine – and then I thought of my friend Steve Estes. Steve was the guy who helped mentor me up out of depression when I was first injured; we’ve even co-authored a few books on suffering together. Well, anyway, I thought of Steve and said to myself, “I wonder what Steve would say to these two people? What would he do? What would he advise? What Scriptures would he use?”
It’s the power of example. We all have Christians in our lives whom we look up to, right? People whose advice and counsel we respect. And it’s usually when we’re stymied or stuck with a problem that we ask ourselves, “What would so and so do? What would he say, what would she say?” When I think of the power of example, I think of the apostle Paul. One of the reasons God may have chosen Paul to write most of the New Testament is that he wanted us to know this apostle well. God wanted us to grasp Paul’s thinking, his ambitions, his focus, his motives. And when you read about him from Acts all the way through his epistles, you begin to see that, yes, Paul’s life ambition was evangelism; his focus was the cross; his motive was Christ and Christ alone. No wonder the Spirit of God inspired Paul to say to us, “Join with others in,” now here it is, “following my example.” Wow! Paul could say that without a hint of smug self-righteousness.
Faced with accusers? Paul holds his tongue and points to the facts. Assaulted by hardships? He says that those hardships will all fit together for good. Confronted with injustice? Paul patiently states his case and moves forward. Slapped with false imprisonment? Paul sings praises to God in his cell. Harassed by death threats? He says it would merely send him home sooner to Glory. Hounded by loneliness? Paul fixes his eyes on heavenly glories above.
And this remarkable man says to us: follow my example. Oh, friend, can we do that? When we are assaulted by hardships, are we able to trust that it’s all fitting together for good? When we are confronted with injustices, can we patiently just state our case and move forward without starting a quarrel? And flip the coin, I mean, look at Paul’s example when it comes to what he boasts about. Does he make a big deal about his achievements? Does he put thumbs in his suspenders over how many church committees he serves on or takes pride in his regular church attendance? No, when it comes to activities like that – so called, you know, religious credentials – Paul calls them – get this – “rubbish.” Wow. Not only did he consider his religious achievements and awards worthless, he thought they were damning. And there is nothing God hates more than a religious spirit. Oh, friend, there is so much about the apostle Paul that we can imitate; so many things about his life that we can copy in our own.
We all need the power of example, whether it’s a mature Christian we model or a biblical figure like Paul. There are examples that God gives us to follow. In fact, someone’s following you. You may not realize it, but I just bet someone’s modeling you; so let’s set an example for good and not for bad. Let’s make the cross our focus, evangelism our motive, and the glory of Christ our goal.
© Joni and Friends