Imitate me

The Apostle Paul writes to the church at Corinth:

“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 11:1

I would imagine that for most of us, we read that passage and think primarily in terms of our students and our ministry.  As a Youth Pastor I do want to live in a way that my students see me as a reflection of Christ and as a result strive to live the same.  There certainly is not any thing wrong with that.  In fact, I think we should.  Paul after all is writing here to a church.  But what if we took it a step further perhaps?  What if instead of reading this passage as “pastor,” we read this passage as “parent?”  What if we encouraged the parents in our ministry to do the same?  Every ministry takes on the personality of their leader.  Every child takes on traits and behaviors of a parent…good and bad.  The truth is our children do and will imitate us.  We know this, but we often do not think about this on a daily basis.  So do we take this seriously?  Here are a few questions to ask ourselves:

“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” What if you parented this way?

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1. Is my life worth imitating?  Why or Why not?

2. What areas of my life do I need to repent of and grow in?

3. What are ways in my life I can be more intentional in teaching my faith to my children?

4. When I look at my life, am I the person I want my children to be?

5. What are things in my life I need to ask forgiveness for from my children?

6. Am I reflecting Jesus to my family?

In the fast paced culture we live in there are so many things fighting for our attention.  If we are going to live a life that our children can imitate we must be intentional.  We must slow down.  We must ask ourselves difficult questions and give honest answers.  There is simply too much at risk not to.  Be the parent/adult/believer you aspire your children to be.  Let them catch you in the Word and in prayer.  Show them Jesus as they watch you live daily.  Your ministry will be all the better for it.  More importantly, your family will be all the better for it.

What do you think?  What are your struggles when it comes to this?  What are come things you do to intentionally help with this in your life and your family?  Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

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