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It's Catching

After three years of pandemic, we all know a little something about contagion.

For the first year of the Covid spread, the news was filled with ever changing science about how the coronavirus moves from one person to another. Was it a 6 foot spread or a 12 foot spread? Could you spread it in a mask, by touching, when outdoors? We were all obsessed with stopping the spread.

Thankfully, it is not only bad things that can be passed from one person to another. Fear can breed fear, but courage can also spread.

The courage of Jochebed clearly spread to her daughter Miriam. For three months, this little girl watched her mother bravely hide her baby brother from the authorities, secreting him away from those who would throw him in the river.

She witnessed the risks her mother was taking and saw first hand the burning desire and confidence her mama had for following God in caring for her family.

When the time came, Miriam had caught her mother’s courage.

Just a child, she watched over the baby as he floated in the dangerous river. Then she took the unprecedented action - a slave girl spoke to a royal princess. In a family where courage and faith were normative, little Miriam was simply doing what Mama did!

READ

As a spiritual father, Paul knew that what he did would be caught by others. What Jochebed did in practice, Paul explains in particulars in several of his letters to his spiritual children.

1 Corinthians 11:1 NLT

And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.

‌1 Corinthians 4:14–16 NLT

I am not writing these things to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children. For even if you had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. For I became your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the Good News to you. So I urge you to imitate me.

‌Philippians 3:17 NLT

Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example.

‌1 Thessalonians 1:6 NLT

So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord.

REFLECT ON WHAT YOU'VE CAUGHT

• What is something you “caught” from your mother, grandmother or father? What is something you have “caught” from a spiritual mentor?
• Who is someone you could imitate and know that you would also be imitating the Lord?

REFLECT ON WHAT YOU SPREAD

• What would you like your children to “catch” from you?
• ‌How are you modeling those things to them in practical ways?
• How can you be intentional to daily model a living relationship with God that is driven by faith?
• What words or actions can help communicate this?
• In what ways can you be confident that if your children imitate you they will be imitating the Lord?‌

PRAY

‌When we think about imitating Jesus, we can’t help but think about all the ways we fall short. This can leave us feeling shamed, frustrated and defeated. Paul, who called himself “the chief of sinners” reminds of of this:

‌Romans 7:24–8:2 NLT

Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

‌We all fall short in our desire to be like Jesus. But praise God! There is no condemnation when we belong to Him - only grace and forgiveness. If we confess our shortfalls, He is faithful to forgive us and to cleanse us from all the filth. (1 John 1:9)

Spend some time talking with God about your desire to imitate Jesus and the places where you have fallen short. Ask that His life-giving Spirit empower you to live in ways that show Him to the world and especially to your family. Ask for His help so that you can be confident as they imitate you!