Live As An Example Of Christ-like Behavior

"... Set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."  1 Timothy 4:12 (NIV)

These are the words of the Apostle Paul which were spoken to his young protege, Timothy, in order to encourage him.  Paul told Timothy not to let the fact that he was young in years stand in the way of him living a Christ-like life.  He also told him not to let it bother him when the people looked down on him, or criticized him.  He was to devote himself to The Word of God.  He was to live his live as an example for others to see and follow.

While this was Paul's advice to a young preacher, it can also serve the rest of us today.  People will look down us, and talk about us for a number of reasons.  Some of them may even know about our past mistakes or our shortcomings.  But their reasons are not important, whatever they are, we should not let them get to us, or cause us to stray from the path that God has for us.  As believers, we need to live our lives as an example of Christ-like behavior for others to see.  Our speech, our behavior, and our faith in God should be examples for others to see, to learn from, and to imitate. (1 Kings 3:14, Proverbs 4:4, John 14:15, and Romans 6:4)  Preachers are not the only ones who should walk the Christ-like walk, all believers should also be examples of Christian behavior. (1 Corinthians 7:17, Galatians 5:25, Ephesians 4:1, Colossians 2:6, and 1 Thessalonians 2:12)  We should all let The Light of Christ which is within us shine forth so that men will see our Christ-like behavior and give glory to God. (Matthew 5:16)