Dear friends, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. - Philippians 3:17
After I gave the commencement address for a modeling school, I watched the girls walk across the platform to receive their graduation certificates. They were perfectly poised and coifed with just the right amount of cleverly applied makeup in just the right places! They were, I mused, model models. Lastly, their popular teacher stood up to receive a standing ovation from the girls. It was then that I understood why the girls looked as they did. They were obviously her followers. She was perfectly poised and coifed with just the right amount of cleverly applied makeup in just the right places!
That is really what following, or being a disciple, is all about. Paul told the young Christians in the church at Philippi to watch how he lived the Christian life and do the same. He knew how important it was for those eager young believers to have a model.
This does not mean we should proudly set ourselves apart, put ourselves on pedestals, or pretend we are something special. Always remember that even the great apostle Paul did not count himself to have arrived at perfection (Philippians 3:13). We are to be models of growth, not models of perfection. That is the key!
Paul draws attention to other unknown, godly people and says, “learn from those who follow our example.” Could Paul point us out as a model for younger Christians? Could you and I ask others to join in following our example?
For Further Study: Philippians 3:12-21
Excerpted from The One Year Devotions for Women, Copyright ©2000 by Jill Briscoe. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
For more from Jill Briscoe, please visit TellingtheTruth.org.
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