It is unanimously believed by followers of the Bible that Paul was one of the most remarkable Christians of all time.  We could spend much space writing about his background and conversion to Christ; however, the real value of his life is found in his total commitment to the cause of Christ, motivated by his desire to follow in the steps of his Savior.

1 Corinthians 11:1 (ESV)
¹  Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Paul was not attempting to draw disciples after himself.  He wanted people to follow Jesus, something they could do by simply following his example.  What are some of the things we can imitate from Paul if we want to be like Christ?  Let us take a look.

Let’s begin at the most obvious spot.  Paul was determined to obey God, putting His will before his own.  A good example of this was the time when he wanted to go, first to Asia, and then to Bithynia, to preach the gospel but the Spirit forbade him in both cases.  Paul did not do what he wanted to do, but followed the instruction of God, going to Macedonia to preach the gospel instead (Acts 16:6-10).  In putting God’s will before his own, Paul was imitating Christ (Matthew 26:36-39).  Let’s follow his example.

Another area of Paul’s life that we should emulate was his willingness to give up everything for Christ.  In Philippians 3, Paul said he was willing to count all things loss in order to gain Christ (Philippians 3:8).  His relationship with Jesus was more important than anything else in his life.  Should we imitate Paul in this?  Of course!  No one or nothing should be more important to us than Jesus (Matthew 10:34-38).  This mentality had a great impact on Paul’s life, and it should ours as well.

Paul also imitated Christ in his willingness to die for the cause.  When Paul was insistent on going to Jerusalem, even after the prophet Agabus revealed that he would be bound if he went there, the brethren begged him not to go (Acts 21:12).  What was Paul’s response?  He said, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:13).

Are you ready to die for Christ?  Am I?  We probably will never be called on to do so in our present situation, but the question is are we willing to do so?  Are we willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for our Savior?

While it is impossible to answer that question definitively, since we have never been in that situation, the way that we are currently living should tell us what kind of sacrifice we are willing to make.  For example, if attending services a few hours a week is too much time for me to give to the Lord, I am quite sure giving my life would be out of the question.  If you view giving as you have prospered on the first day of the week as a major inconvenience, so you do it grudgingly, do you really think you would die for the cause of Christ if it came down to it?  Not likely.

Paul did not just decide at that moment when the brethren were trying to talk him out of going to Jerusalem that he would die for his Lord; he showed his willingness to do so by the way he consistently lived his life.  Let us follow in his steps.  If we do, we will be following Jesus because that is who Paul was imitating (Philippians 2:8).

Paul was certainly Christ-like.  Let’s imitate him just as he imitated Christ.  If we do, we too will be like Christ.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things