Written by Michelle J. Goff, Founder and Executive Director of Iron Rose Sister Ministries

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. (1Co 11:1 NIV) 

Immediately after college graduation, my parents and I caravaned me straight to Atlanta, Georgia, where I was going to work as an assistant to the Director of Missions, Bob Brown, longtime missionary in Venezuela. I had interned under him for a summer two years prior and had already begun to travel extensively with him and others to Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, and even Kazakhstan.

I began to make many of those trips on my own, speaking at ladies’ conferences, supporting new church plants, serving through evangelistic campaigns, counseling at youth camps and teaching a class to the young women. Amongst the local Kingdom workers, I was known as Michelle “secretaria de Bob” (Bob’s secretary). The moniker became my last name or primary identifier.

After a year and a half working together in Atlanta, Bob and his family decided to accept the invitation of a small group in Denver, Colorado, to collaborate in a church plant in the southern part of the city (Highlands Ranch). Additionally, the goal was to establish a Spanish-speaking congregation in the area. Over 33% of the population was Hispanic, yet there were no churches of Christ in the entire metropolitan area.

I was invited to join the team that was forming to meet those Kingdom needs in Denver. But I was torn. I had also been invited to take over the job Bob would be vacating as Director of Missions. And at the same time, I was offered the opportunity for full support for 3-5 years during which I would serve as a missionary in Venezuela, in the city of my choice.

Aaaaahhhhh, what should I do?! You can imagine the sleepless nights of wrestling in prayer and indecision. I also sought wise counsel regarding this weighty decision that I felt would alter the course of my entire life.

Naturally, I asked my mentor and boss for his advice. One of my arguments for not going to Denver was that I didn’t want people to say that I was following Bob… “Oh, of course she moved to Denver. She’s just following Bob.” His response to my fear, “So what if they say you are following me? What’s the problem?”

“I shouldn’t follow a man! I should only, ever follow Christ!” (Yes, I know my rebuttal might’ve been different if I were married…) 

“Go read 1 Corinthians 11:1.” 

“I’ve read it, and I have a problem with it!” (A previous translation I was referencing mentally was “Follow me, as I follow Christ.”) 

“Then I think you need to go meditate on that verse.”

“Ugh!”

I can recall that conversation and my level of frustration as if it had happened yesterday. What I also remember is the time that I did spend meditating on that verse. In my immature interpretation, I was focused on a frustration with following Paul or anyone that was not Christ Himself. Through prayer and meditation on 1 Corinthians 11:1, God revealed the importance of the 2^nd phrase, “as I follow Christ.”

The Lord, through Paul, did not call us to follow others blindly, indiscriminately, or naively. God calls us to follow Christ and walk in His steps (1Pe 2:21). But God has also provided us imperfect examples, other Christ followers, from whom we can learn and grow. 

If someone sins, I should not follow them into sin. Yet if someone shows repentance, turns from their sin, and follows Christ in their steps toward accepting the grace and mercy God offers, I should follow in their steps of repentance in whatever area that applies to me. 

Follow me, as I follow Christ. “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ”(1Co 11:1). I pray that we can all say those words and declare ourselves faithful Christ followers who imperfectly navigate walking in the light as He is in the light (1Jn 1:7).

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.(1Jn 1:5-10)

Who are you following today? 

Who is looking to you as their example of how to follow Christ?

Written byClaudia Malaquias, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Minas Gerais, Brazil

There is a fable about two donkeys who were walking to make deliveries, one with a load of sugar, and the other with a load of sponges. After walking for a while, they came across a fast-flowing river. 

The donkey with the load of sponges said, “How will we cross? What if the river takes us?”

To which the other responded, “Nothing is going to happen! Follow me and you will see that we are safe.” 

As he entered the river, his load of sugar dissolved and, becoming lighter, made the crossing easier. “What did I tell you? Now follow my example and come!” 

But, to no surprise, as the other donkey entered the river, the load of sponges swelled with the water, became much heavier, and the current carried the poor animal away.

It is human nature to seek to belong to a group and to do so we often succumb to social influences, which experts call conformism: the passive acceptance of norms, rules, customs, and ideas that shape behavior without any reflection on our part. Therefore, following others without due diligence can result in serious consequences!

When I was first converted, still inexperienced in the Word, I tried to join one of the women's small groups in my congregation just by observing how they presented themselves. Following human instincts, I chose a lively, talkative group that was well-informed about everything that was happening in the church.

However, with time and maturity, I realized that the spiritual fruits that I needed to grow were not really being practiced there. The apostle Paul’s phrase: “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1Co 11:1 NIV) is an invitation to imitate him, who clearly reflected our Lord, Christ Jesus, the perfection of love and sacrifice, while at the same time warning us to keep company with those whose choices are guided by God’s will.

At each step of our journey in the Kingdom, we need to direct ourselves to imitate those who have already matured in faith—people who show in their lives the fruits of the Spirit that we may still need to polish in our lives. In this way, little by little, we too will be an example for other brothers and sisters.

Paul felt confident in inviting others to become disciples of Christ by following his example. Do we have the same courage? 

Knowing the Scriptures, developing intimacy with God through prayer, meditating on the life of Christ, and obeying His commandments are important for deepening our faith and communion with the Holy Spirit. With these practices as the load we carry, we will be an example for others, and it will become easier to discern good examples for us to follow as well.

In the fable of the donkeys, the mistake was to imitate without considering the load of each one. Sometimes that can be our mistake, too. May we seek our spiritual growth each day through the imitation of those who truly practice the example of Christ.

Written byNaijuvelin Díaz Leal, volunteer for Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Venezuela  

The word “follow” indicates that we go after, imitate, accompany, or give continuity to something. As far as repentance is concerned, we understand it as ceasing to do evil and changing one's attitude, grieving, and feeling pain for having offended God.

In Luke 22, the Lord Jesus predicts Peter's denial: 

‘Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.’ But he replied, ‘Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me’. (Lk 22:31-34 NIV)

When we decide to follow someone or something, that implies commitment on our part; change, union, fidelity, firmness, and transformation, which are all parts of a continuous process that leads us to adopt certain characteristics by which we imitate a model. 

Peter experienced the tragic situation of his denial (described in Luke 22:61-62), which he thought he would never do. However, he proved otherwise with his actions, which is why many label him as a traitor or hypocrite. And likewise, turning his eyes to Jesus, he perhaps remembered His repeated questions: "Peter, do you love me?" (Jn 21:15-19) and even though the Lord knew his heart, He gave the great responsibility of caring for the early church to a man with errors, imperfect. 

Throughout the book of John, we observe the dominant characteristics of Peter, passionate about Jesus but, at times, dominated by his emotions, in which his impulsive ego reigned more. But in the presence of Jesus, he bowed down. We notice a fragile, grieved Peter, who leads us to recognize changes in attitudes and behaviors that imply recognizing errors, feeling remorse, and taking measures to not repeat them.

To follow Peter in repentance should be to imitate him in the decision to acknowledge sin, turn from it, and follow the Lord faithfully. It is a commitment to change, bearing fruits resulting from repentance, renewing the way of thinking and acting from a spiritual perspective, according to God's will.

Acts 2:14 teaches us the invitation that Peter makes in Jerusalem in response to that repentance that brought about in him restoration and obedience, fulfilling Jesus' previous command, "strengthen your brothers" (Lk 22:32). It is, then, how Peter revalidates this request, strengthens his commitment to follow Jesus and, in turn, leaves us the great teaching that during this process the mercy of God is glorified, which transforms us through the Holy Spirit. This is living in faith in Jesus, fueled not by emotions, but by the Holy Spirit.

Like Peter, you and I go through processes, perhaps on a daily basis, in the face of a world so convulsed that it weakens us until we fall into sin or we err. Let us remember the faithful witness of Peter, who wept bitterly then went on to seek, through his repentance, our Father's forgiveness. Are you willing to follow Peter in repentance? Do you want to be transformed just like Peter was?

To follow Peter in repentance is to reflect him at every step, to regret or feel deep pain for having offended God. By the grace of Christ, are you willing to revalidate the commitment to change and transformation—to continue in holiness?

byElesa Goad Mason, volunteer with Iron Rose Sisters Ministries in Texas 

I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before their eyes. In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin.(Ps 36:1-2 NIV) 

I spent the first 13 years of my life growing up with one brother. Typical brother/sister relationship; friends one minute, then not the next. We never really had that much in common, so our lives and interests went in different directions. It wasn’t until after college when we both were married and building our own families that we grew closer and were more involved in each other’s lives.

Fast forward many years to when most of our children were grown and our lives were successfully running full steam ahead, or so it seemed. One afternoon at the end of a long day, I received a call from him, emotional and very remorseful. He felt God had placed it on his heart to confess a sin that could put his life as he knew it in jeopardy. I was stunned because, other than dad, my brother was the one person in my life whom I felt had such a strong relationship with the Lord that I never dreamed he would ever have to confess a sin publicly, much less to me privately. I was crushed by his sorrow but also amazed by his strength to do the right thing, not knowing the consequences, and to begin a process of confession and subsequent healing that has taken many years to complete.

Since the beginning of time, God has used the sinful nature and weaknesses of man with various personalities to fulfill His will and accomplish His purposes. Apostle Peter comes to mind readily as a sinful man who was impetuous when he quickly lost his faith in Jesus and began to sink in the stormy waters out of doubt and fear (Mt 14:29-31), and as an impulsive man who cut off the ear of Malchus, the high priest’s servant, out of anger because they were arresting Jesus in the garden that fateful night (Jn 18:10). He also quickly declared his loyalty to the Lord and just as quickly denied him three times to protect himself from the angry mob (Mk 14:66-72).

It's so easy to have good intentions in doing the right thing, and just as easy to not. All of that about Peter is to say that God used him in miraculous ways for His will. God channeled Peter’s bold nature to speak an amazing sermon that resulted in the salvation of over 3,000 souls and used him as a pillar in the New Testament church (Ac 10, 15). God is loving and forgiving and used the sinful natures of many people to complete His spiritual purposes; David, “a man after God’s own heart,” Moses, Jonah, Rahab, and the list goes on and on.

After recently talking with my brother, who graciously relived a very difficult time in his life to help me, he explained that, like David in Psalm 38 after his sin with Bathsheba, he felt physically sick and totally crushed down by the Lord because of his sin. He, my brother, had no choice but to confess his sin to his wife and family and throw himself on the mercies of the Lord and those he loved dearly to face whatever consequences he was given. He believed with all his heart that his salvation was because of Jesus on the cross, and not for anything he’s done or could ever do.

God’s favor in us is because of His covenants and promises, period.Like David, despite his sinful nature, God blessed my brother beyond measure, full and packed down. He blessed him with an amazing wife and a long, beautiful marriage, and children and grandchildren who look up to him and honor him as a man of God. As do I. And like Peter, God uses my brother as a pillar in the spiritual community both locally, statewide, and around the world. All because he chose God over sin.

Our relationship with God is wholly dependent on our grateful hearts and true penitence in our sinful natures. God wants to be first, to be loved, and to be trusted in all aspects of our lives and everything we do. Confession is part of that. But living a life with less judgment, filled with loving others more than ourselves, is equally as important in our journeys through this life. 

Our reward is an eternity with the very God we worship and the ones we love dearly who have gone before and will follow us after we’re there. I can’t wait!