“Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.” (v. 1)

I’ve lived long enough to recognize a few things. Key among them is this:

Some people are good role models, and some aren’t. Some people are worth imitating, and some shouldn’t be imitated at all. I want my life to resemble some of the lives of others—and I want it to resist the rest.

What’s the difference-making distinction?

The lives worth imitating are the ones imitating Jesus.

Paul, who lived one of the most remarkable pastoral and missional biographies ever, was right to invite his readers to imitate him—but only because he was imitating Christ! His was a repentant life, a life of purity and proclamation, all for Jesus’ glory. He devoted himself solely to the cause of Christ, and he encouraged others to follow him, so long as following him meant following Jesus.

Can you tell the difference in your own relationships? And are you living a life worth imitating?

— Tyler