You Never Know Who is Watching

Some years back, I was standing in the kitchen of my home with my boys. I don’t even remember what we were talking about. I was leaning on a counter and it dawned on me, the way I was standing was the same exact way I had seen my father stand many time. I had, without even thinking about it copied the posture of my father. I had become just like him.

Over the years I have also seen my sons use the same gestures and mannerism that I have used over the years. They too without consciously realizing it had become like me.

What I am trying to say is we affect the lives of those around us in ways we may not see.

People are watching us all the time.

I know for a fact after working several jobs over the years that one of the favorite topics of discussion at work is what the employees see and feel about their co-workers and customers.

What do people see in us? What do they say about us??

This is one reason we should always try to be a godly example wherever we go. We may not realize it’s happening, but we are being watched, and we affect those around us by our actions and our attitude.

When I thought about how I started imitating my father’s mannerisms without even thinking about it, what came to my mind was what the Apostle Paul wrote in some of his letters. He wrote in

1 Corinthians 4:16 “Therefore I urge you, imitate me.” Again in 1 Corinthians 11:1 he said “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.”

Now when Paul said imitate me, he didn’t mean to be just like him in the way he dressed or the way he spoke. Each one of us have different personalities and different ways of expressing themselves.

I’m sure some of the Roman soldiers who guarded Paul in prison and whom Paul brought to the Lord through his witnessing to them would never have wanted to be exactly like Paul. That’s because I get the idea that Paul was probably a short, not very athletic person who was a bit of a nerd. He had a great mind, but probably didn’t have the strongest body like some of those Roman guards.

What Paul was talking about was imitating his attitude and actions. You can be yourself, but with a godly attitude and with godly actions.

What Paul is saying to us today is that in our journey toward a godly, spiritual life we need to find and follow the example of a godly person who you know.

Paul was not the only one to make this suggestion. The author of the book of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 6:12 saying,

“do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

In 3 John, verse 11, the elderly apostle John wrote,

“Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.”

2 Thessalonians 3:7, Paul also wrote,

“For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you;”

Literally the Greek in this verse says, “For you yourselves know how it is necessary to imitate us.”

The Bible says several times that we should imitate those who are godly, whether that is the pastor, or another leader of the church or some other person like a life group leader or one of the seniors in the church who demonstrates a godly life.

I do have to give one warning though. Be careful who you imitate. Make sure they are godly. My Dad use to talk about a pastor, many years ago when my Dad was a young man, who would stand up in the pulpit and say ‘do what I say, not what I do’. That is not the most inspiring word to say. If he wasn’t living what he was teaching, how can he really believe what he was teaching?

More than just following the example of a godly person in your life, the point I want to make today is that each one of us need to become an example that others will want to imitate.

Last year I received the nicest compliment ever. At my job there is a very difficult older man. He is at retirement age and can’t move around much because of his age and weight. Often he is very grumpy and at times, he does things to purposely irritate others.

One of my other co-workers had a confrontation with him and in her anger she wanted to do something to get her revenge. She told me later that at that moment she thought to herself, what would Jeff do? She then calmed down and backed away from her desire to get revenge, knowing that was not what I would do.

It was humbling to know that what she saw in my interaction with the other employee made enough of an impact that she followed my example.

I didn’t even realized she noticed how I reacted to the difficult employee.

We need to realize we are all being watched. If we tell others we are Christians, they are going to watch and see if our actions match.

People are watching us.

As many of you know, I have lost over 100 hundred pounds and turned my life around. One of the things I did to inspire me to keep at it was to seek out encouragement on social media from others who had already transformed their bodies.

I found several people who genuinely lost a lot of weight the right way, not by some gimmick or dangerous risky lose weight quick scheme.

I learned from them, figured out some principles. I made adjustments to what they did to fit my personality.

After a while people started asking me what did I do? People have started calling me an inspiration.

I now want to be an example to others because I know, see and feel the difference being healthy brings to your life after a lifetime of being unhealthy. That’s why I started a blog and started writing a book and got a job at a gym.

The same principles apply to living a godly, spiritual life. Paul says we should find someone who lives a godly life that inspires us. When we do we need to learn from them. We need to figure out what they do and learn to adjust and apply what they do to our lives.

Finally, we need to become an example of a godly person to others.

Just as it took me over three years to loose my weight and build healthy habits, --- you don’t become an example of godly, spiritual living overnight. It takes time and practice. It takes mistakes to learn from and godly habits to develop.

God’s Word gives us some keys towards becoming someone who inspires others to live godly lives.

Now what are some of the keys to becoming someone worth imitating? I would like to share one passages that gives us some ideas what it takes to have a godly attitude and actions

First, to have a godly attitude that is worth imitating it takes a transformation, one that Paul describes in Romans 12:1-2

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

The first thing to notice here is for us to be spiritually strong and live a godly life, we need to offer to God our physical body as a living sacrifice. In other words, the way I see it -- we are to learn how to have self-control.

It is our flesh that can get us into trouble. We are tempted by what we can touch or taste or feel. In Galatians 5:16 Paul says it this way,

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”

Our body and its desires can corrupt us internally if we give in to those desires. That is why we are told to sacrifice our body as a living sacrifice. Living in the sense that we continue to live our lives but in a way that is honoring to God.

When people first see us, what do they see? They see our physical person. Our body gives people a first impression of what we are. It takes more time with a person to see what is in there heart.

What’s inside us that makes us tick is what Paul brings up next. Not only do we present our bodies as a living sacrifice, but we also are to “be transformed by the renewing of the mind.”

We are to look at things differently. We are not to see things in the way the world sees things. We should look at the world and the people around us through God’s eyes.

The world will say, ‘think of yourself and what advantage something can be to you. Don’t worry about others. Only concentrate on what is important to you.’

But what does God say? Just look a little further down the chapter in Romans 12 and you will see.

Verse 3 says,

“For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”

And again in verses 9 through 16,

“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.”

Then this passage ends with one of my favorite verses, verse 18 which says,

“If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.”

Sometime later this week, sit down and simply read Roman’s 12 again. To me this is one of the most practical guides you can find in the Bible for holy living.

The world wants you to focus on yourself and what you want. But if you noticed in this passage, the beginning of a godly, spiritual life is to focus on the needs of others. That is the beginning of a godly life.

If every believer followed the instructions in this passage and treated their brothers and sisters in the church the way it’s described here there would be less conflict in churches.

If every believer practiced these instructions we would see more people interested in learning what our secret is.

Follow Paul’s instruction and find someone worthy to imitate. Learn from them, adapt to your circumstances, apply the principles to your life and inspire others to follow your example.

As you go out into the world around you be a blessing. You never know who is watching.