4/5 Strength for Today

A Pattern of Good Works

Titus 2:7
“In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,”

Do you remember in elementary school when the teacher would give you a piece of paper and tell you to trace the lines of the picture? At that young age your teacher was teaching you to find a pattern to follow and trace the lines of your patterns life.

If the truth were known, everybody is a copy of somebody. We have all copied the pattern of somebody's life. Though the pattern that we copied was not just one life, we still have copied someone's pattern of living. That pattern, whether good or bad, has been engrained into us because of the influence that pattern had on our life.

In the verse above, God commands the young men to be a “…pattern of good works:” Even though God was talking to the young men, I believe everyone should take this command personally and understand that we should be a good pattern that can be followed by those who choose to copy our lives. We should be a pattern of purity, honesty, sincerity, wholesome words and conversation, and a pattern that cannot be condemned. This is the pattern that God prescribes for us to be in the verse above.

Whether or not you like it, you are a pattern that someone is copying. I ask you, what kind of pattern are you giving them? If you look at your life for the past month, would you want someone to copy everything that you have done? Though there are parts of your life that you don't think people see, it comes out and someone is copying your pattern. Think of this, would you want your child to do EVERYTHING that you do? You can tell your children all you want to do what you say and not what you do, but they will end up tracing the lines of your life.

Christian, make the lines of your life lines that are worthy of copying. Be careful that you don't draw a line in your life that would cause heartache for someone who is copying your pattern. You are a pattern for someone! Don't be a pattern that leads to heartache, but instead be a pattern of good works.