If you’ve ever spent more than five minutes with little kids, you’ll know they are basically mini paparazzi—watching your every move like you’re a celebrity, then turning around and doing the exact same thing… sometimes better, sometimes way messier. You clear your throat? They clear their throat. You say “oops”? They say “oops” 47 times. Kids are basically tiny, unfiltered mirrors.

In 1 Corinthians 11:1, the Apostle Paul is saying, “Hey, be like me—I’m doing my best Jesus impression over here!” (Okay, paraphrased, but still true.) He says, “And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.” That’s like the ultimate Christian game of follow-the-leader. Except, spoiler alert: Paul’s not the end goal—Jesus is. Paul’s just the guy confidently waving his arms in front yelling, “This way, everybody!”

“Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you” ~ Philippians 4:9(NLT). You see, Paul wasn’t shy about the kind of life he was living. He lived so loudly for Christ that he didn’t need a name tag that said “Christian.” His lifestyle was the name tag. So my question to you today is: if people followed you around for a week (without the creepy part), would they end up closer to Jesus—or just confused?

As followers of Jesus, we’re called to be His “lookalikes”. 2 Corinthians 5:20 calls us “Christ’s ambassadors”, which basically means we’re Jesus’ reps on earth. So we can’t just say we follow Christ—we’ve got to live like it. And not just on Sundays or when there’s a famous preacher/gospel artist coming to your city, but ALL THE TIME!

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” ~ Matthew 5:14-16 (NLT).

Ultimately, everything we do as followers of Christ is for the glory of God and for His Kingdom. So here’s the challenge: take a moment today and ask yourself—am I a good example of what following Jesus looks like? Would my kids, coworkers or neighbors, see Jesus in me? As we reflect on this today, I know it will help us grow 2gether. Grace and Peace 🙂