Key Verse: “And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having
received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost: so that ye
were examples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia” (1 Thessalonians 1:6-7)
Now that we have become believers
in Christ there are few things that are now required of us, one of those things
is to be an example to others; those who believe and to those who do not
believe.
We are under a microscope; people
are trying to see if we live the life that we proclaim. They are looking to see
if we ‘walk the walk’ as well as we ‘talk the talk’. Those in the world are
looking at us waiting for us to make a mistake so that they can accuse us of
being a hypocrite, but those in the church are looking to us to be an example
that they can look up to.
As we begin to mature in Christ
those who are babes look to us as an example of how they should live their
lives. We must live our lives in holiness and teach those who are young in the
faith to do the same. There are several ways in which we must show ourselves as
an example to those who believe.
In 1 Timothy 4:12, the Bible
teaches us, “Let no man despise thy
youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in
charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” These were the instructions Paul
gave to Timothy because he was a young man. Paul instructed Timothy to be an example
to those in the church.
We must be as Paul and begin to
teach those who are young in the faith how they should live Christ-like. It is
during this time we are best able to teach them how to live and to instruct
them in the ways of holiness. We must teach them to be an example in word: the
things we say will very often show what is in the content of our heart.
We must teach those who are young
in Christ that they must allow the Holy Spirit to change their hearts so that
their conversation will begin to change. Jesus tells us in Luke 6:45 “A good man out of the good treasure of his
heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil
treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance
of the heart his mouth speaketh.”
Paul then tells Timothy that he
must be an example in charity or love. This is important because Jesus said
this is the first commandment. In Mark 12:30-31 Jesus tells us, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy
strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater
than these.”
We must show them love! We must
show that we love the Lord, and we do this by obeying His commandments. We must
love our neighbors as we love ourselves; we show this by giving to those who
are in need and not being selfish. When God blesses us, we must in turn bless
others.
The story of the Good Samaritan
is an example of loving thy neighbor (Luke 10:26-37). We must be an example in
spirit; this is to say we must be of a humble spirit and to be forgiving. We
must also exhibit a spiritual walk with God. Romans 8:14 tells us, “Those who are led by God's Spirit are
God's children.” We don’t have to walk around speaking in tongues all the
time to show them this; we must show them that we have the faith that God is in
control and that we are doing things according to His will.
We must also be an example in
faith. People are looking for us to show them that we have the faith to believe
God for everything that we need. It is by our actions that they will know that
we have faith. If we are looking to get a job, then we should go out and put in
applications to get a job and not expect God to give us a job while we just sit
around and eat Twinkies all day. God is able to do that if He wishes, but we
have to do something to show God that we trust Him to provide for us.
We must show them our faith through
our works. James tells us “Show me how anyone can have faith without actions. I
will show you my faith by my actions” (James 2:18b). How will those around us
know that we have faith unless they see us do something? And we must be an
example in purity of heart and in living a holy life.
They will see what we do when we
are not at church. Are we just a Sunday morning saint or is that how we live
our lives daily? Those who are young in the faith are looking to us to be an
example. They are like our children who do what we do so therefore we must take
on Christ so that they will know how to live a life in holiness.
Let’s be an example of
righteousness and holiness for all to see so that God will be glorified through
us! May the God of peace, and the peace and love of Christ be with you always!
Amen.
*** Written by Edwin D. Kerns ***
THE TRUTH MEDIA
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