Faithful Child In The Lord
For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all,
as though sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world,
to angels and to mortals. We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are wise
in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in
disrepute. To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed
and beaten and homeless, and we grow weary from the
work of our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when
slandered, we speak kindly. We have become like the rubbish of the world, the
dregs of all things, to this very day.
I am not writing this to make you ashamed; but to admonish you
as my beloved children. For though you might have ten
thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in
Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. I appeal to you, then, be
imitators of me. For this reason I sent you Timothy, who is my beloved and
faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ Jesus, as I
teach them everywhere in every church.
1 Corinthians 4:9-17
The Corinthians had shifted their focus away from Christ and
onto individual leaders. Paul admonished them that if they were to use
examples, rather their own individual leaders they should emulate Christ, and
if they could not see Him, then they should emulate Paul. However, they let
their allegiances lead to various divisions and contentions in the church. The
apostle Paul recognized their error, so he sent Timothy to remind them of his
teachings and the importance of walking in obedience to the Lord.
We are to imitate Christ.
It can also be helpful to have mentors who imitate Him. Those
who walk in step with Christ provide a model for us to emulate. But our
ultimate example is Jesus Himself.
Our Daily Bread –