Pattern yourselves after me [follow my example], as I imitate and follow Christ (the Messiah).
— 1 Corinthians 11:1
What a bold, awesome statement! What exactly was Paul saying in this verse? He was saying the same thing he said in 1 Corinthians 4:16: "So I urge and implore you, be imitators of me."
He was telling the believers in Corinth, "Watch my life, and I will show you how Jesus wants you to live." That is what God wants us to do. He wants us to have the confidence to know that we are doing everything in our power to obey God to such a degree that we don't feel we have anything to hide from anybody. He wants us to be confident that anyone who models himself after us will turn out to be like Jesus both in attitude and behavior.
I love Romans 5:19: "For just as by one man's disobedience (failing to hear, heedlessness, and carelessness) the many were constituted sinners, so by one Man's obedience the many will be constituted righteous (made acceptable to God, brought into right standing with Him)."
This verse says that just one man or woman can affect the world. If that is so, then surely one of us can affect the neighborhood we live in, the place where we work, the circle of friends we do things with—if we make the right choices.
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