One week, my friend shared in our Life Group at church that her grandma was the greatest spiritual influence in her life. She shared how her grandma would take old newspaper and make a dress pattern for her granddaughters. As my friend was reflecting on this memories, she said she felt like God was showing her, through that experience with her grandma, how to pattern her life after her grandma’s. In essence, her grandma was kind of like a pattern for her to imitate.

What is the definition of a pattern? A pattern is a model that’s used as a guide. Many of us may be familiar with sewing patterns, where you have a sketch of what the item is supposed to look like. There are lines on a piece of paper that you can see through and place the fabric over top of or underneath, and you cut around the lines kind of like following a “connect-the-dots.” You’re following the lines of the pattern to trace out the shape of what you’re going to make.

As my friend was sharing about her desire to pattern her life after her grandma, I thought how important it is that we take care who we pattern our life after. We don’t always have good influences in our life to copy or imitate or use as a guide. Sometimes there are bad influences in our life. I know that when I was younger, I had a lot of really good influences and examples to pattern my life after; but as I went through my teen years, after my parents divorced, I had many bad influences in my life. Unfortunately, I began to pattern my life after those bad influences. We need to be careful who we are imitating. Hebrews 13:7 gives us a good example of those we should imitate.

Hebrews 13:7, “Remember those who led you who spoke the Word of God to you. And considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.”

We find another good example and reminder in 3 John 1:11 of what we should and should not imitate and why.

3 John 1:11, “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. The one who does good is of God. The one who does evil has not seen God.”

Many of us can think of people who were good examples in our lives, such as a family member, coworker, neighbor, friend, or perhaps someone well-known like an author or a pastor.  What about those who were bad examples in your life? Does someone come to mind? Perhaps you didn’t grow up with good examples to follow in your family. Or maybe you were not raised in church – or if you were, you were not active or participated in a form of discipleship with a godly mentor. It may have been difficult for you if nobody came alongside you and showed you how to pattern your life after a good and godly example.

This is why it’s so important to be connected in church. We may argue that we don’t really need to be there. We say to ourselves, “I have friends in other places” or “I don’t need to go to church to have good, godly friends.” Those may be true; however, being part of a local church is beneficial to you because it takes the whole body of Christ to disciple and to help one another through the trials of life and to help us live according to God’s Word. Having a godly circle of friends will help you to be wiser about who you pattern your life after because it only takes one to shine the light and give a warning when we are veering off the narrow path. We have accountability when we surround ourselves with godly influences. They will be able to give us godly counsel when it comes to relationships, finances, or even doctrine.

Hebrews 6:12 tells us to be “imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” In other words, don’t go pattern your life after those bad influences. If you read the first part of that verse it is warning us not to copy those who are lazy and sluggish, but rather imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. What a great verse to remember whenever you are looking for godly examples to pattern. But what if someone is depending on you to be a godly example? Would you be a good person for someone to imitate? Are we worthy of imitation? This is what discipleship is all about. When we come to faith in Christ and receive salvation, we go and share the Gospel with others. We become a follower of Jesus and our mission is to go out in the world and help others know the Lord and become followers of Christ through salvation. The Apostle Paul is one of the greatest examples that come to mind regarding the topic of discipleship and being a pattern for others to follow.  Paul would tell new believers to imitate him because he was imitating Christ, and so he was worthy of imitation. He wasn’t worthy because of who he was, but because he was following Christ. Paul didn’t just talk the talk; he walked the walk.

1 Corinthians 4:16, “Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.”

How does that process work? How were these new believers supposed to imitate Paul as he was imitating Christ? He tells them in Philippians 4:9, “The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the God of peace will be with you.”

Once again, Paul didn’t just tell the people to “say as I say.” He showed them, by example with the words he spoke and the actions he took. What a conflicting example you would be if you said one thing but acted differently! It would make you a hypocrite and it would make others stumble in their walk with the Lord. Many people in the world today who try to identify as “Christians” are living so closely to the culture that unbelievers can’t tell the difference between the real followers of Christ and atheists.

Paul reminds Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:5 about the godly influences that Timothy had in his own life. He says, I’m reminded of your sincere faith; the faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, And now I’m sure it dwells in you as well.” Both of those women had such an influence in Timothy’s life that he followed in their footsteps. And where did that lead him? To follow after the Lord.

Paul tells the people in 2 Thessalonians 3:9 that the way that he lived his life, the way that he ministered to the church, he did it “in order to offer ourselves as a model for you so that you would follow our example.” So, when we are worthy of imitation, we are not living our lives for ourselves. We are not trying to be selfish or get the spotlight. When you are worthy of imitation, you live humbly because you are serving the Lord. As a result, others will want to imitate their lives after you because they see that you are a person of humility, a person of integrity, selflessly serving the Lord. Your words and your actions line up with the Word of God.

Being an example worthy of imitation might seem like a lot of pressure to some people because they feel a big responsibility, but it’s not something to take lightly when we’re told in the Bible to be a good example for other people so that they can see how to act and how to live. Being a person who is worthy of imitation is something that we should steward well, and it doesn’t have to be complicated. Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 3:7, “You yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you.” Paul and the other disciples were not undisciplined. That goes back to the fruit of the spirit, where we are told about having self-control. These men lived according to God’s Word. They obeyed God’s Word. They were prayer warriors. They valued God’s Word.

But remember, Paul was not telling the people to exclusively imitate him. He was telling them, ultimately, to imitate Christ. We’re not making copycat versions of ourselves! We are making disciples of Christ. It was Christ in and through Paul that Paul was trying to get them to notice. 1 Corinthians 11:1 says, “Be imitators of me just as I also am of Christ.” He wasn’t saying imitate Paul in all of Paul’s sin and craziness, but rather imitate me when I’m imitating Christ. Are you imitating Christ? Does your life reflect that?

1 Thessalonians 1:6, “You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the Word and much tribulation with the joy of the Spirit.” You don’t just blindly look to people to be your example. Make sure they are following Christ. Ultimately, you’re looking to God and to Jesus because He is our ultimate example.

Ezekiel 36 talks about how instead of the law working from the outside in, God promised a new heart to work from the inside out. John speaks about this same concept in John 3 when he describes how we have a new heart within us when we receive salvation. Even the Apostle Paul mentions this idea in 2 Corinthians 5:17 when he calls us “new creations in Christ.”  We are made new, when we place our faith in Christ and receive salvation. We have this new nature in us. Where did that come from? Well, it was patterned after the nature of Jesus Himself. Paul says in Ephesians 4:24 to “put on the new self which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” So that likeness of God – that’s our pattern. We are patterned after our new nature that we receive in salvation.

If you are a born-again believer, then you have a new nature inside of you. It’s patterned after the nature of Jesus Himself because He made the pattern. He’s the master pattern. He’s the very first edition there ever was and so how are we even able to imitate him? Not in our own strength, right! What gives us the ability to imitate Christ? The indwelling Holy Spirit that is present in every believer (Romans 8:9).

1 Peter 2:21 says, “You have been called for this purpose since Christ also suffered for you leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.” Christ set the example; He was the first pattern. When He gives us salvation, He puts that new nature inside of us; and then we can follow in His steps. It’s not just a good idea to follow in His steps; it’s a command that we do it.  Ephesians 5:1 say, “Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children.” It doesn’t say you might want to think about being imitators of God. Paul gives a very firm directive: Be imitators of God. Why? Why should we imitate Christ? Why should we imitate God? Well 1 Peter 1:16 tells us because “It’s written you shall be holy for I am holy.” There’s a greater purpose to imitating Him. The purpose is our holiness.

Immediately the word that comes to mind is sanctification. That’s the process of becoming more like Christ.  Jesus tells us in John 13:15 that He gave us an example. He set a pattern for us. Think about what was happening in that chapter right before verse 15. What had Jesus just finished doing? He had just washed all of the disciples’ feet! He had exampled to them that this is how you serve.

All throughout the Gospels you can find examples where Jesus was setting a pattern for the disciples and then telling them to copy what He was doing – to do likewise. In Matthew 11:29, Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me.” Did you get that? Learn from Me. Just like He said in john 13, to “do as I did to you.” In other words, Jesus is setting the example; we are to copy what He was doing. Sometimes we overcomplicate the command. If we would just read our Bibles and take note of what Jesus did and what He said, we will know how to “go and do likewise.” These disciples only had three years of ministry with Jesus; we have the whole bible from Genesis to Revelation.

We have so many examples all throughout the pages of Scripture of how we can imitate Christ in so many areas of our lives:

• How we interact with other people one-on-one.
• How we interact in crowds of people.
• How we deal with people who don’t like us.  
• How we deal with people who are hard to love.
• How we deal with people who are grieving or sorrowful.
• How we deal with people going through trials.
• How we deal with anxiety, fear, and depression.

We are shown the pattern for our life all throughout the bible, and it’s easiest to see when we’re walking with the Lord. If you’re not walking with Him, it’s hard to see the right way to be in all of those situations. When you’re walking with Christ, you’re tied so closely to Him that when He takes a step, you know to also.  We can find encouragement for this with Paul’s words from Philippians 3:17, “Brethren join in following my example and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.” We need to be mindful of those we are following, those we are patterning our life after, and think about how to be worthy of imitating. Jesus tells us in John 13:34, “A new commandment I give to you that you love one another even as I have loved you, you also love one another.” Studying that example, being someone worthy of imitation, is as easy as simply obeying Scripture and imitating Christ in all we say and do. Remember Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Be imitators of me just as I also am of Christ.” You can’t imitate Christ if you don’t know Him. It’s really hard to set an example when You don’t have a personal relationship with Christ. If you don’t have a relationship with Christ, you will not be able to imitate Him and be a worthy imitation for others to follow. You won’t be able to be that godly pattern for someone else to use as a guide. You can try and be a better person. You can try and watch what you say and what you do around other people. You can try and serve the right way, but it’s going to be so much harder in your own strength and you won’t be able to accomplish it to the fullest extent that you could as a believer. If you don’t know the Lord, if you don’t have a personal relationship with Him through salvation, then it’s not a good pattern for someone else to follow. Christ is the best pattern and that is Who we should be patterning our lives after. If you don’t know the Lord, He invites you to come to know Him and to have a personal relationship with Him. And to do that is really very simple. He says that we need to recognize that we are sinners. We have rebelled since Adam and Eve against His laws and His commandments for us and we have gone against Him and have sinned against Him. We’re not perfect; in fact, the Bible tells us there are none perfect, no not one. We can’t save ourselves, but the Good News is that Jesus came to save us because He is God. He’s perfect. He’s the One who can redeem you and save you. And so, our response to Him should be to accept His sacrifice when He died on the cross and then rose up three days later. He showed us that He is the only way to heaven. He’s the only way to be reconciled to God. When we accept His sacrificial death and His Lordship over our lives, we become saved. Romans 10:9-10 tells us that “if we confess with our mouths Jesus as Lord, And believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” So, tell Him today. Confess with your mouth and believe in your heart and He will save you!