Is your life worth imitating?

"I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me." 1 Corinthians 4:14-16

The Apostle Paul wrote this in his first letter to the Corinthians. Paul is writing to a church that he planted and laid the foundation for. Although there were others that watered and cultivated this church while Paul was away, he considered them his children and He was there Father in the Gospel.

As I read this text, I thought about my role as a Father. It certainly is littered with poor choices and harsh words. There have been times when I should have used the "count to 10" rule several time in a row. But what I see with Paul is how he chooses to admonish and warn instead of shame. Paul is admonishing and warning the Corinthians with love. To shame someone is to put them down, and to belittle them . To shame someone is to place yourself at the opposite end of love. We shame our kids and our loved ones when we say things like, "That was stupid, why did you do it that way" or "What were you thinking". I am sure you get my point and you could probably come up with many others that you have either used or been the target of.

The whole thing for me comes down to these words "be imitators of me". Back in Paul's day children were expected to learn a trade from their Fathers, but also appropriate behavior. Children learned by imitating their Fathers. Thousands of years haven't changed that because they still imitate us, but what they are imitating has changed tremendously. When we look at our kids we need to look at what we are modeling for them. Are we giving a pattern worth imitating? The state of our world says no! The do as I say, not as I do method of parenting doesn't work, and I know for me I have become fully aware of my need to change the pattern that I am leaving. We need to be living our lives in a manner that is worth imitating.

I challenge you to take a hard look at your life this week and ask yourself if your pattern is worth imitating? A word of warning: Don't do it unless you're prepared to accept the answer.

In Christ,

Greg

3 John 1:4

Second Chances

This week I spent some time thinking about second chances. I think all of us would like to have a few “do-overs” and go back and correct a mistake or an error in judgment. Because I am a golfer, it reminds me of the golf term, “mulligans”. In the game of golf, a mulligan will give you an immediate opportunity to re-hit an errant shot in the hope of a better outcome. If you readjust and do things correctly, then the results are usually a better shot. However, if you repeat the same swing, you will often get a similar bad result.

As I reflect on what Christ has done for me in my life, I am thankful for the second chances he has given me. When we read the Bible we see the second chances He gave to some of the greatest leaders and teachers in the Bible. They were people that made a mess of their lives just like we all do at times. Some of them made some major mistakes, while others just simply disobeyed God. King David, Moses and the prophet Jonah were chosen by God to do some great things, but without the second chances that God extended to each of them they would not have become the great people we read about in the Bible.

Aren’t we thankful that God loves us and is patient? He could have wiped any one of these people of the face of the earth and found a replacement. But He didn’t, and after each one of them began to show remorse and repentance, God extended love and forgiveness. In time each one was restored to the plan that God had for their lives and they continued in God’s work. It’s difficult for us to imagine that God will forgive us for some of the things that we have done in our lives. But He forgave these great Bible leaders and He will forgive you and me when we come humbly to Him and seek forgiveness.

Jesus Christ gave each one of us a second chance when He died on the cross. That second chance will last until we die, and then there will be no more second chances. God is good and He is patient, but our time on earth will eventually run out. My prayer is that if you are at a point in your life that you think that you have made too many mistakes, or done something to bad for God to care, that you will remember these people from the Bible. God’s grace is big enough for all of us and all of our failures, and He wants to give you a second chance to live eternally with Him. Don’t wait to take advantage of the second chance that Christ died for, this is a limited time offer and we don’t know how much time each one of us has. Hebrews 9:27-28 reads, “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

In Christ,

Greg

Romans 3:23-24