Welcome!
Today: On being an example, a role-model
Passage: Esther 1(NIV)
17 For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.’ (Esther 1, NIV)
When queen Vashti refused to come to the King’s presence, the kings’s advisers sighted that many women of the land would follow the queen’s example and disrespect their husbands!
What people in responsible positions do, affects many!
Sometimes we see preachers and ministers who do a “good job” in ministry, but some of their styles/lifestyles could be a problem. Generally, females care about how they look, than men. So if a female preacher is too “decorative” and stylish, that can cause civil wars in the house when a woman argues with her husband, demanding the type of costume/jewellery that preacher was wearing
Many men also try to use some male preachers/pastors as their role-models
Paul knew this and was careful to make “sacrifices” so that people would not be offended by something he does. We cannot make a common rule saying “this is what everyone should do”, but common sense and wisdom from God should help us in making decisions on lifestyles, outward appearance and stuff
12 When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall. (1 Cor 8, NIV)
In 1 Corinthians chapters 8-11, Paul deals with various (sensitive) issues
Many people have different type of reactions to Paul’s stand on this and other issues mentioned there. However, he had a great revelation from God and these chapters are part of the scripture.
Sometimes children want to wear the same dress as going to park, for church. Parents might tell them to change it, but they may be like “I think this is quite O.K”. It may not be a problem for God, but could be a problem for some of God’s people. It is all about being decent, orderly and appropriate
Children think in their way and it is important to handle them carefully
I remember , one preacher was mentioning about a conversation between two of his children. The older one was telling the younger one about a certain teacher in school she didn’t like. The younger brother will get that teacher in two years. So she said to her brother, something like this: “If Jesus comes before that, you won’t get her!”
Thank God for children and young people around us. God put us in the right spot
Let our lives be role-models for others
Have a great day
BG
Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to follow your foot-steps and that of great men and women who followed you and lived as role-models. Even if I don’t do “exploits”, I would like not to offend anyone in my family/church/work. So help me God; Amen
We can impact people around us positively or negatively; the choice is ours!