I'm grateful for the people that the Lord has placed in my life. There are many people who have influenced me that I'm grateful to have known. I'm even thankful for people the Lord has brought into my life that I would consider bad examples of life and faith. I have learned and continue to learn from each of them.

We're all imitating our influences to one degree or another. I would contend that in many respects, we may learn more through what we see in and copy from the lives of others than we learn by direct teaching, even though both are valuable.

Who have you been willing and eager to imitate? Who did you imitate 10 years ago? Who are you imitating now? Are the people you imitate helping to point your mind and heart to Christ? Are they giving you a greater glimpse of the mind and motivations of Jesus?

What does God's word tell us about the kind of examples of faith we should be imitating?