Beautiful Living: Follow My Example as I Follow the Example of Christ

The LORD inspires and empowers my writing ministry of expressing Christian truths simply. My primary spiritual gift is teaching through the written word.

My writing springs from thousands of interactions with other people. They have influenced me through what they have said, done, and written.

God has given Pastor Alex in Malawi and those who work with him the spiritual gift of teaching through the spoken word. They translate my English book into Chichewa, which is the native tongue of the region.

They communicate it powerfully to people there. God has also shaped them (and you) through thousands of interactions with other people.

Pastor Alex, his teachers, and I are using God’s gifts. We realize we cannot produce spiritual fruit through our efforts, abilities, and ingenuity.

“For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” (1 Corinthians 4:7 NIV). Apart from remaining in Jesus (the vine), no one can bear spiritual fruit (John 15:5) because it is a supernatural venture.

God revealed to me that we are all like hand-knit sweaters. He skillfully knits thousands of pieces of yarn (interactions with others) to make each of us unique. No one in the world has the same shaping interactions with others that each of us does.

God’s knitting project began exceedingly early. “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13 NIV). The knitting project is ongoing. We are responsible for how beautiful the sweater is.

The yarn God uses represents interactions with thousands of people in molding our values, beliefs, and convictions. We have something to say about the sweater’s design. Some interactions are positive and teach us what to say or do. Others are negative and teach us what not to say or do. We dare not get them confused.

Mysteriously, we influence others while they influence us. Moreover, those who influence us are also like hand-knit sweaters.

They were also influenced by others who were influenced by others. We do not know the names of most of these influencers, but their values have been transmitted through many generations.

As sweaters, we are a work in progress. New yarn is continually being added. Some old yarn might even be removed, such as bad habits we learned from others and are leaving behind us. Next year, we can be better people.

God will continually use others to make us more Christ-like if we allow it. As sweaters, we are unique, but how beautiful we are depends on whom we imitate.

Israel “imitated the nations around them although the Lord had ordered them, ‘Do not do as they do’” (2 Kings 17:15 NIV). By contrast, the Apostle Paul urges us to imitate him (1 Corinthians 4:16, 2 Thessalonians 3:9). He wrote, "Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). This is the recipe for beautiful living.

The Apostle John challenges us to imitate what is good. The writer of Hebrews tells us, “To imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised” (Hebrews 6:12 NIV).

He also tells us to imitate the faith of our spiritual leaders (Hebrews 13:7). Is your life beautiful? Those you imitate determine its beauty. What is your takeaway? See additional free spiritual growth resources for Christians.   #freediscipleshipresources #freeevangelismresources #freechristianleadershipresources

God has empowered me to write His Power for Your Weakness—260 Steps Toward Spiritual Strength. It’s a free, evangelistic, devotional, and discipleship e-book. Pastors have used it in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia to lead 6,714 people to Christ and teach the basics of Christianity to 15,936 people. I invite you to explore and use it in your setting.

Photo: Image Creator (microsoft.com)