GOOD EXAMPLES Are You Benefiting From Them?

"YOU came to be an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia."  The apostle Paul wrote these words to faithful Christians living in Thessalonica.  The example they set for fellow believers was truly commendable. Still, the Thessalonians were themselves responding to the example that Paul and his associates had set.  Paul said:  "The good news we preach did not turn up  among  you with speech alone but also with power and with holy spirit and strong conviction, just as you know what sort of men we became to you for your sakes; and you became imitators of us." -1 Thessalonians.

Yes, Paul did more than preach sermons.  His very life was a sermon-an example of faith, endurance, and self-sacrifice.  Because of this, Paul and his associates came to be a potent influence in the lives of the Thessalonians, moving them to accept the truth "under much tribulation."  By no means, though, were Paul and his fellow workers the only positive influence on those believers.  The example of others who endured tribulation was also an encouragement.  Paul wrote to the Thessalonians:  "You became imitators, brothers, of the congregation of God that are in Judea in union with Christ Jesus, because you also began  suffering at the hands of your own countrymen the same things as they also are suffering at the hands of the Jews." -1 Thessalonians 2:14

Next time: Christ Jesus-The Foremost Exemplar

The Watchtower, 2000