You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 2 Corinthians 3:3
Our Christian lives may reflect someone else’s input into our lives—their writing on our hearts, as it were, but I wonder how many hearts have we written on? Have we sown in a positive way into other people’s lives?
God sees great value in using role models to teach others. Paul wrote, “Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did” (1 Corinthians 10:6). And Paul continues, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us” (verse 11).
Modelling can be a more effective tool than teaching. A church community provides the opportunity to rub shoulders with people who think differently to us and thus expand our understanding of what Christian faith looks like in other contexts. We grow in our faith when we have role models of varying ages and from different walks of life.
As Christians mature in their faith they’re called not only to teach but also called to live out their Christian faith, their love, their values and their way of life (Titus 2:7-8). This is a serious challenge since we live in a world where young people, in particular, are desperately lacking good role models. Yet it’s not always a role we’re eager to embrace. Often we feel inadequate as role models and may not want to see our church family as role models either. We may prefer our Christian lives to be a private affair. However, God challenges us through Paul to be living letters from Christ.
