OUR EXAMPLE
“He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” I John 2:6
The Bible is very clear about our responsibility to pattern our lives after the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to “walk, even as he walked.” We all have known, or known of, individuals that had such a godly walk that to be like them seems a worthy goal. Yet, the ultimate objective is not to imitate any mortal, but the Lord Himself. Paul encouraged others to follow him because he was following Christ, but the goal was to get others to follow the Lord. Our mission in life is to be like Him. Some might say, “I thought our mission was to win others to Jesus.” The simple answer is, “If we are seeking to be like Him, we will be winning others to Him.” No one ever loved or cared like Jesus did. No one ever obeyed and honored the Father like Jesus.
How might we begin to pattern ourselves after Jesus? The process begins with salvation. When we are saved, we receive the Spirit of Christ dwelling within. We should then take seriously the responsibility of obeying God’s Word. If we are going to “walk, even as he walked,” we must be committed to a life of obedience to the Word of God.
The command to follow the Lord’s example should be an incentive to take our spiritual walk very seriously. Unfortunately, we can find ourselves too casual in our spiritual growth because we have experienced a measure of progress, or because we have achieved a higher level of maturity than others. We should not compare ourselves with one another or be comforted because we seem to be doing better than they are. That kind of thinking will cause us to be complacent rather than aggressive in our spiritual development. Also, the challenge to be more like Jesus will help us realize that there is always room for growth and adjustment. None of us have nearly arrived. Only a person consumed with pride would think he is in every way walking as Jesus did. It seems that the closer we get to the Lord, the more we see the need to decrease and allow His work in us to increase. In addition, the realization that we are to walk as Jesus walked will undoubtedly motivate us to rely upon Him all the more.
We are not capable of duplicating the walk of Jesus in our own energy or ability. The only way that we can consistently improve in our daily walk is when He is living His life through us.