I will share about Christian books I have read or listened to.
I will be sharing about my life before and after Christ. I will include stories about my pet and other pets I have encountered.
Be Imitators
Children learn to function in real life by imitating those around them.
They learn to speak by listening to their family’s words and copying what they hear. They learn to interact with others by observing how their loved ones interact with others. They learn what’s culturally and socially appropriate by watching and imitating.
Learning by imitation doesn't stop in childhood. Adults, too, will often reflect those closest to them, as well as their environment.
Perhaps that’s why, while writing from the confines of a Roman prison, the apostle Paul gave the believers in Ephesus this heartfelt charge:
“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.”
Ephesians 5:1 NLT
Paul knew that loving and reflecting God was foundational. What we observe will get repeated and, eventually, passed along. The fancy word for this concept is discipleship—where we learn from those we trust and teach others what we’ve learned.
Regardless of where we’re at in life, we’re all being discipled by something. That’s why we should carefully consider who we are listening to and following. By choosing to imitate Christ, we become more like Him day by day.
Who are you imitating today?
Don’t Lose Heart
As we start getting older, our bodies begin to change.
Muscles might ache. Hair might gradually turn gray. Vision and hearing might eventually get less sharp. And we, or someone we love, might even struggle with significant or devastating health challenges.
The apostle Paul once offered some ageless wisdom to the believers in Corinth, Greece, which can still be helpful for us today:
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”
2 Corinthians 4:16 NIV
Paul knew what it was like to face hard things; he’d been beaten, shipwrecked, snake bitten, and imprisoned.
Earlier in the letter, he’d said, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9 NIV)
The ripple effects of sin’s existence in the world might frustrate us physically, but it ...
