Purposeful Living
It is very important that everyone understand they were created for a purpose. …a purpose planned by God before they were born. This article says it all so concisely..note the verses make it extremely clear that God has plans for each of us. And in your life if you are a believer, you try to flee from His plan, you will learn through trial and circumstance to succumb to His all important will for you. You see this in the lives of so many great pastors who tried to run away from their vocation in the beginning, but finally gave up the fight and have been some of the most dynamic expositors.
But this word is not just for prospective pastors. In 1 Corinthians 4 Paul told his followers to be imitators or him. He was a great follower of Christ after his conversion. He was admonishing the Corinthians to stop their self seeking and all manners of poor judgment in their life style.. in 1 Corinthians 4:14 Paul wrote
“I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. 15 Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.18 Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing,and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. 20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 21 What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?”
In reading this passage you can see Paul was being very forthright in getting the wayward Christian’s to listen. He could either discipline with the rod of power or a word of gentleness. But his point was for them to turn their daily lives around and live by his example. He was their spiritual Father. Exhibiting the example of Christ by the teaching he received from Christ himself. Here is a rendering of that truth from the Logonier org. “Paul said that when Christ called him, he did not go to Jerusalem to receive instruction from the apostles. Rather, he retired into Arabia for a time and not until three years later did he go to Jerusalem. Even then, the only apostle he met was Peter, and the only other leader he met was James, the presiding elder of the Jerusalem church. It has often been remarked that Paul clearly implied that he spent three years being taught by Jesus Himself (1:12), either directly or (perhaps more likely) through the study of the Word. Thus, like the other apostles, Paul studied with Christ for three years before beginning his ministry (compare Acts 1:21).”
Therefore, to the believers, be imitators of Christ!Being an “imitator” of God means we must imitate His “love.” After all, the Bible tells us God is love. His very nature is defined by His love. Everything He does, He does it out of love. As children of God, we are to imitate and walk in that love,
