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A Role Model

A Role Model

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,” (Hebrews 12:1)

I told my friend the other day something that probably left him a little skittish: He was my new role model.

My friend—husband, father of two and just five years older than me—probably knew I had been watching. He could sense I was eyeing his way around his wife, his kids, his time, his house, his life. But for me to say that now I was keeping score and taking notes out in the open probably set him back.

It’s not that I want to add any more pressure to his life, but I’ve got to start somewhere. We’ve all got to start somewhere. We all need to look around—inside our homes, inside our churches, inside our workplaces—for people to emulate. Role models are a necessity. If we truly want to be whole people—people who have a glorifying touch on all we do—we need people to show us not just how to be better at this or that, but who live out their faith in every area of their lives.

The role models we need are people whose lives we can enter, whose houses we can sit in. We need their wholeness—their mornings, their afternoons, their evenings. We need to see them when they are tired, when they are strong, when they are mad at their spouses, when they are playing with their children.

So where do we find such all-engrossing, top-of-the-line titans of the faith? Scripture gives us some idea by showing us how the community of faith breeds role model relationships. Joshua followed Moses—they came from the same community. Timothy followed Paul—they came from the same community. And the best example—the disciples followed Jesus, and they too came from the same community.

There is a danger to having a role model. We tend to forget they are models—they walk in front of us trying to look their best, trying to stand up straight, trying to keep it all together. But as role models lead by example, they also lead by failing. You ever seen your role model cry? You ever seen your role model get divorced? And then did you ask yourself why they were your role model?

Because they carried their cross. Because they fought the good fight. Because they kept the faith. These are the things that matter. These things are the stuff our lives are for. These are the things we should learn to model.

Dig Deeper:

Hebrews 11

Proverbs 27:17

Prayer:

Dear Father, please send someone into my life that can show me how to walk closer with you. Also, allow me to be a good role model to someone else. Thank you for being the ultimate leader. 


RELEVANT’s “Deeper Walk” daily devotionals are presented by the LUMO Project, a visual translation of the four Gospels developed to engage people with scripture in a new way. You can watch the videos—which redefine the standard of visual biblical media—on YouTube, and find out more about LUMO’s mission at their website.

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