Look for people who look like Jesus

If you want to learn discernment for yourself, find the people who are following Jesus and do what they do.

Sep 25, 2024

I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved. And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:33-11:1)

Kids are hilarious. I don’t have any of my own, but most of my closest friends have young ones. Some of them are very young. But the constant I’ve seen as they’ve gotten old enough is this natural instinct in a child to mimic their parents.

One of my friends has a daughter who, when she was three or so, loved to cook for the family dog. She had pots and pans and she’d stand at their fireplace stirring and singing and talking. And then she’d set the bowl in front of the dog and wait for the dog to chow down.

Of course, there was nothing in the bowl. Poor dog didn’t know what was going on, but my friend’s daughter would get so irritated at the dog. She’d give that poor animal a talking to, a thorough scolding for not eating the “meal” she had worked so hard to prepare. At least, I’m pretty sure that’s what she was saying.

If you guessed that my friend cooked for her daughter and sometimes had to fuss at her for not eating her food, you would be on the right track.

We all have people we pattern our lives after. It doesn’t just have to be toddlers and children. All of us have heroes. We look for those who walked the same path we have and ask them questions in order to avoid the pitfalls they experienced. We want to live our lives like they did.

And that’s actually exactly what Paul is talking about in this passage out of 1 Corinthians.

I have never seen Jesus, not face to face. One day I will. It’s a day I’m really looking forward to. He’s my closest friend, the only One who knows me truly inside and out. He’s been my everything for so long, it feels like I have seen Him, even though I have only seen the evidence of Him.

But yet I have still seen Him. I have seen Him in my family. I’ve seen Him in my friends. I’ve seen Him in my pastor. I’ve seen Him in believers who selflessly serve each other. Even though I’ve never seen Jesus, I still see Him every day because His Church is alive and obeying what Jesus asked them to do. They are being Jesus to the world.

So if you want to learn wisdom, if you want to learn how to know the difference between what God says is right and what God says is wrong, look for people who look like Jesus.

Learn from them. Listen to them. Hear what they say. Do what they do. They aren’t going to be perfect, and they are going to make mistakes like any other human. But if they look like Jesus and speak like Jesus and act like Jesus and love like Jesus, you will be better for being in their lives.