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When God can't hear us as we pray;
There is no time, there is no place
That we're beyond His love and grace.
—D. De Haan
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A radio ad for watches suggests that listeners buy a watch with a bright color band and then wear it with clothes of other colors. When people notice your watch because of its contrasting color, the ad says, “They’ll see that you have ‘color courage.’ And they’ll want to be like you.” Something in us enjoys having others follow our example.
If you do a quick reading of 1 Corinthians 4, you might think the apostle Paul sounds a bit boastful when he says to follow his example of self-sacrifice (v.16). But a closer look at Paul’s words shows why he wrote so confidently. He could ask people to imitate him because he imitated Christ (11:1), the greatest Servant of all.
The persecution he endured and the position he held in the church (4:10-17) all happened because Paul followed Jesus. When he mentioned that even if the Corinthians had 10,000 teachers he would still be their father in the faith (v.15), he was acknowledging that Jesus is the only reason people could trust his teaching.
If we want people to imitate us, we must first imitate our Lord. If we have any reason for people to follow our example—if we have any courage to point others to the Savior—it is because of Him, not us.
Read: 1 Corinthians 4:10-17
Meg, thank you for your beautiful opening today (and your lovely posts every day!)
I’ve been reading some of the posts that you made this past week, and so impressed with they beauty and inspiration they all display.
Thank you for sharing positive, uplifting graphics and words, during these tumultuous times, Meg!
Thank you to Everyone for the Wonderful Sunday Posts.
(((((Goodnight, and God Bless)))))
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