Courageous Living (Part 4): Encouragement

I implore you, trust Christ, depend upon your Father, live life in this vibrant relationship and encourage others to follow your lead.

When Paul says to his readers, "Be imitators of me" (1 Corinthians 11:1) he wasn't being arrogant. He was being realistic. People are going to follow, to imitate, and they are going to model themselves after influential leaders.

These titles: Man, Dad, Granddad, husband, friend, and mentor are all titles bestowing some degree of leadership, and therefore, some degree of responsibility. If you are the bearer of any of these titles, you are expected to lead, not in the same way a sergeant leads, but through your lifestyle.

If you are a man, you are expected to be anchored. For example, when strength is needed, a man is expected to be strong. Accepting this responsibility is not arrogance but necessity. Encouraging your kids, your friends, your colleagues, your wife, and all those others you are associated with to follow your lead in life as you follow Christ's means you are acting like a strong man. It might be good to reference 1 Corinthians 16:13 again: "Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong."

This doesn't mean you stand up on your desk at work and take charge or announce at the dinner table you are the boss and have it all under control. Lead by example. The blueprint calls for leadership in life exemplified through your life. This is leadership through love, communication, discipline, and encouragement emanating from your warrior heart-a heart committed to your Father's cause. A courageous man leads and encourages by taking his little girl's hand, his boy's shoulder, or his wife's arm.

It is courageous leadership when a man stands beside his friend who has lost everything he held dear in order that he might be encouraged toward the One who is most dear.