Be imitators of me.

1 Corinthians 4:14-16, I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me.

We know that Paul did not have an easy time in life because he was an Apostle, for he did suffer for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in these verses he makes it clear that believers are held to a higher standard in the world, because we have access to more information. And he shows his willingness to use the power he has as an Apostle to encourage the Corinthians to purge the evil from their own believers. Are we as likely to do so today, given the attitude of our culture that promotes each one to do what seems right in his own eyes? And could we ask as easily for others to be imitators of us?

Give us a measure of the same power that Paul had; let us live lives worthy of imitation by the power of your Holy Spirit.