Read the Word:
Philippians 3:17-20
Meditate on the Word:
“No one is completely useless. You can always serve as a bad example.” (Jim Beaver, Life’s That Way). It’s easy, if we do not pay attention, to wind up imitating someone who is a bad example. We might be tempted to admire qualities about them such as their sense of humor, their intelligence, their assertiveness, or some other quality that we would like to imitate. But before we decide to become more like them, we should ask, “Is this person Christlike?”
Paul warns the church at Philippi to “pay careful attention to those who live according to the example you have in us.” In other words, “we have shown you the example of Christ. There are those there following that example. Imitate them instead of the enemies of Christ. Learn from their humility, their service, their integrity, their character. We should always be striving to become more Christlike. This is the heart of discipleship. We will never do that by following the example of those who do not know Him.
Pray the Word:
If you have been admiring someone whose character is not that of Christ, confess and repent.
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