Imitate Me

Ready:

“Be imitators of me, as I also am of Christ.”  -- 1 Corinthians 11:1 NLT

Set:

My dad is 6’6”, my brother 6’3” and I’m an average of 6’0”. It’s not a surprise that we all played basketball in college. We were a die-hard Phoenix Suns family. I loved Charles Barkley; I had his jersey; I watched how he played, and I tried to copy everything about his game. I imitated these men, and I didn’t even realize it was happening. I progressed at my game and got pretty good at basketball, moving on to a great college career.

But one morning, I was struck after reading 1 Corinthians 11:1. Paul’s boldness really stood out to me. It takes extreme confidence to say, imitate me because I’m imitating Christ. To say something so bold, Paul had to ensure that his statement was true in his life. It made me ask myself, could I say this with the same confidence Paul did? That question hit me hard.

All I could validate was me on the court, the way I practiced and prepared for the game and the way I competed. If you copy what I do and how I do it, you will get better at basketball. I have that much confidence in my game and have the skill to validate my claims. But then the questions became, “Can I say that with the same conviction about every other area of my life?” 

Finding that answer became my new goal. My new goal was to live a life worthy of being imitated by others for Christ, just like Paul.

It’s easy to get caught up in our game and sport, but as Christians, we must remember that our identity is in Christ first, not second, third or last. When we imitate Christ, we can be as bold and confident as Paul.

Go:

1. Who are you imitating?
2. Are you living a life worthy of being imitated by others?
3. Are you becoming more like Christ or more like the world?

Workout:

Ephesians 5:1-2; Ephesians 4:22-24; Romans 12:2

Overtime:

“God, allow me to imitate others who imitate You so that I can have the same confidence as Paul. Amen.”

Kelly Schmidt