One of the statements I heard over and over when my mom did daycare in our house was, "Babies learn from watching the big kids." There were a lot of crawling parades with the big kids showing the babies how to crawl. They would cheer when the babies would start crawling and follow them.
We have the tendency to put certain people on pedestals, hoping one day we can become like them. Are they really who we want to become like or have we put them on such a high pedestal that not even they are what we made them out to be? What happens when they fall off of the pedestal that we have put them on? Do we fall apart?
The word Christian means little Christ. Jesus is the only One that we can safely put on a pedestal and know He will never disappoint us. He is also the only one we need to copy as a role model for our lives. My youth pastor had the nickname of Carbon Copy, because he was just like his dad when he preached. That is what we need to be a carbon copy of Jesus.
There are three areas listed that we need to copy Jesus in. The first area is in being pure. When we come to Jesus and ask Him to forgive us of our sins, He washes us white as snow. However, we are still living in this world and pick up the filth that is in it as we walk through it. A friend of mine used to work for a trucking company, everyday when she got home from work she would get into the Bible to wash her brain with "God' Super Soap". We need to daily wash this world's dirt off with the Word of God and keep a short list on our sins by confessing them at least daily, to remain pure.
The second thing we need to copy Jesus in is being righteous. You notice in 1 John 3:7, it says that we have to practice in living in righteousness. This is not something that doesn't come natural to us. The sin nature is really strong with in us, sorry for sounding like Star Wars. Just watch a baby within the first two years you see how evident the sin nature is. There are two words that they don't have to be taught, no and mine. It takes work and a lot of training to get that selfish attitude out of a child. Likewise, we have to practice being righteous and we do that by coping Jesus' example.
The third thing that is mentioned in 1 John 3, that we need to copy Jesus in is love. It isn't saying I love you that we need to copy. When can tell someone that we love them in one breath and turn around gossip, curse, you name it, behind their back in the next. The only way to love others like Jesus is by our actions. I can't tell you how many times God has placed people in my lives that I would not think of giving the time of day too if it wasn't for Him. They all have become very important friends to my family, almost family. We have been there not just in word but in action to them and at time sacrificing to make sure they had what they need. We need to be that way with everyone that we meet putting them first. Letting someone og in front of you. In the grocery line, paying for the next person in the drive thru... these are not random acts of kindness but loving others the way Jesus would.
As little kids let's copy Jesus in how we live.
We have the tendency to put certain people on pedestals, hoping one day we can become like them. Are they really who we want to become like or have we put them on such a high pedestal that not even they are what we made them out to be? What happens when they fall off of the pedestal that we have put them on? Do we fall apart?
The word Christian means little Christ. Jesus is the only One that we can safely put on a pedestal and know He will never disappoint us. He is also the only one we need to copy as a role model for our lives. My youth pastor had the nickname of Carbon Copy, because he was just like his dad when he preached. That is what we need to be a carbon copy of Jesus.
There are three areas listed that we need to copy Jesus in. The first area is in being pure. When we come to Jesus and ask Him to forgive us of our sins, He washes us white as snow. However, we are still living in this world and pick up the filth that is in it as we walk through it. A friend of mine used to work for a trucking company, everyday when she got home from work she would get into the Bible to wash her brain with "God' Super Soap". We need to daily wash this world's dirt off with the Word of God and keep a short list on our sins by confessing them at least daily, to remain pure.
The second thing we need to copy Jesus in is being righteous. You notice in 1 John 3:7, it says that we have to practice in living in righteousness. This is not something that doesn't come natural to us. The sin nature is really strong with in us, sorry for sounding like Star Wars. Just watch a baby within the first two years you see how evident the sin nature is. There are two words that they don't have to be taught, no and mine. It takes work and a lot of training to get that selfish attitude out of a child. Likewise, we have to practice being righteous and we do that by coping Jesus' example.
The third thing that is mentioned in 1 John 3, that we need to copy Jesus in is love. It isn't saying I love you that we need to copy. When can tell someone that we love them in one breath and turn around gossip, curse, you name it, behind their back in the next. The only way to love others like Jesus is by our actions. I can't tell you how many times God has placed people in my lives that I would not think of giving the time of day too if it wasn't for Him. They all have become very important friends to my family, almost family. We have been there not just in word but in action to them and at time sacrificing to make sure they had what they need. We need to be that way with everyone that we meet putting them first. Letting someone og in front of you. In the grocery line, paying for the next person in the drive thru... these are not random acts of kindness but loving others the way Jesus would.
As little kids let's copy Jesus in how we live.