From my reading in 1 Corinthians 11:1-16 in the One Year Bible New Testament.

People don’t follow what you say, they follow what you do.

That is why is it is so important that if you are discipling someone that you are modeling for them.

The apostle Paul boldly invited the Corinthians to follow his example because he was following the example of Jesus.

“And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.” 1 Cor 11:1

If you are asking others to follow you then you need to make sure that you are following Jesus. Otherwise you could be leading them down the wrong path!

People need a model.

I was a pole vaulter in high school. If someone gave me a book about pole vaulting, it would have been really hard to learn. But my dad was a college pole vaulter at the University of Florida and he was my coach.  Because he knew what he was doing he could coach me and even model how to do some techniques. I was able to win the State Championship largely because my dad modeled how to pole vault for me.

One reason I love leading mission trips and doing outreach on campus is that I can take people with me and do on the job training.

If you are building a house or telling someone about Jesus you should take someone younger in your faith with you so that you can model for them how to do that. Try to never serve alone. Try to never share the gospel alone.  Always think about who you can bring along to pass on your passion for Christ.

Howard Hendricks has said, “I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day.”

Your life is the greatest lesson you will teach your disciple. People don’t do what you say, they do what you model.

Discipleship is more caught than taught.

Who can you start spending time with to model what following Jesus with?

Here’s an even better question, Is your life currently something worth following?

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