“My beloved friends, imitate my walk with God and follow all those who walk according to the way of life we modeled before you. For there are many who live by different standards.” Philippians 3:17-18a TPT
I remember the first time I read this passage by the Apostle Paul, I experienced a measure of fear and trembling. Did I really want anyone to imitate me?
Forty-five or fifty years down the road, this concept of imitation now makes much more sense to me.
Think about it. How do we learn? We learn by watching and then trying to do what we see or hear. We imitate.
Everyone is broken in some way which is why Jesus came. He loves us so much that He was willing to take on ALL of the things that separate us from God, making a way for us to reestablish a loving relationship with our Creator.
I was blessed with several good relationships with mature believers when I was in university and beginning to grow in my faith. Two CRU staff women shared an apartment off campus, and I lived in a sorority.
They graciously gave me a key to their place, and we developed a wonderful relationship over dinners, sharing our joys, talking through our challenges, theirs or mine, as sisters. And of course, we shared a lot of laughter and some life-giving prayer before they went to bed. Yes, I often let myself out or slept on the couch.
Just being with them, without an agenda or program, was how I “caught” much of the Christian life.
Sometimes it felt like I was following them with a bowl so I could catch the golden nuggets of biblical wisdom that fell from their mouths, or out of pockets full of experiences.
I learned a tremendous amount by this “life on life” discipleship lived in mutual relationships.
Imitate me?
Why not?
By God’s grace I will always be learning and growing in my faith.
We all need more mature believers to model humility, surrender, and forgiveness to us, especially as they are learning these things themselves. Observing the authentic process in action is powerful.
Learning how to interact with our heavenly Father when the Holy Spirit lets us know we are off track is also important. Confession, (agreeing with God about our separation,) and repentance, (turning to God,) are integral tools on our journey with Christ.
Each one of us is a part of the body of Christ, and we need each other. God is relational and we grow best when we are sharing life in relationships.
Like children who imitate their parents and older siblings we can imitate the Christ in others.
Imitate Me? This question does not scare me like it did initially, in part because I am still daily plumbing the depths, heights and breadth of His love for me. And I know I can grow through the way Christ lives in them.
And I am still looking for others to imitate so we can grow together.
