Read 1 Samuel 20, Ezekiel 31, and Philippians 3.
This devotional is about Philippians 3.
There were some persistent problems Paul faced as he did the Lord’s will and traveled to new Gentile cities starting churches. One problem he faced repeatedly was immediate, direct opposition from people in the town who rejected the gospel. Another problem he faced repeatedly was false teaching that cropped up in the churches he had just planted. After Paul left to go start churches in another city, false teachers would show up after a time and start preaching that these new Gentile Christians now had to get circumcised and start obeying Jewish law in every other way, or they were not saved. The bulk of this chapter, Philippians 3, was written to address that threat to the gospel.
In verses 1-4a, Paul warned the church in Phillipi that these teachers were coming. In verse 2 he called them “…dogs, evildoers, [and] mutilators of the flesh.” That language was designed to get the Philippians ready so that they would not be fooled by these false teachers. They were not well-intentioned but misinformed people. They were “evildoers” because they were corrupting the gospel and leading people away from Christ.
In verses 4-16, Paul described his pre-Christian religious qualifications as a devout Jewish man. If people could be saved by keeping the law, then Paul would have been fine spiritually without Christ, because his Jewish resume was impressive. But, when he met Jesus and heard the gospel, Paul wrote that “…the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…” caused him to realize that his religious good works were “garbage” (v. 8). His only goal now was to “…know Christ” (v. 10).
The end of the chapter urges the rest of us Christians to pursue Christ like Paul pursued him (vv. 15-21). One way to do that was described in verse 17 which says, “Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.” This verse teaches us that we need not only to know God’s word ourselves, but we need spiritual role models. Again, that verse says, “…keep your eyes on those who live as we do” (v. 17). Living a Christlike life is not easy. We continue to battle our own sinful desires while, at the same time, we have people outside of us provoking us and tempting us to sin.
In addition, it isn’t always clear to us how to put God’s commands into practice. We know that we should love one another, but what does that look like in everyday life? We want to grow strong and mature in the faith, but what daily actions do we need to take to make that happen? We want to raise our kids to know Christ and to know right from wrong, but how do we translate that desire into consistent actions?
One answer to this problem is to find someone else who has already done it and “model” their behavior (v. 17). Find someone whose children have turned out well and ask them what they did. If someone shows Christian love to you in a meaningful way, start doing what they did for you and saying what they said to you to others.
Remember that Paul included himself and others in this command. Again, verse 17d says, “keep your eyes on those who live as we do.” Don’t slavishly copy one person. Watch many godly people and notice the patterns that emerge in their lives.
So, who are your role models for the Christian life? If you are a man, who are the godly men whose lives you are watching and imitating? If you are a woman, who are the godly women who can serve as an example for you?
If you don’t have any Christian life models, find some. Watching them will help you. Talking to them will help you, too. Seek out people who are Christlike and imitate the ways that they practice their faith.