1 Thessalonians 1:6 observes you became our followers and the Lord’s.

People need examples, coaches, models, mentors for understanding practically how to live certain principles or objectives. When the Apostle Paul would invest in someone he would invite them to follow him as he followed Jesus. The Lord Jesus, God in the flesh, invited men to follow Him as He taught and modeled how He wanted people to live if they were going to please God.

Inviting others to join us through imitation places a great deal of responsibility upon us for doing the right thing. Perhaps this is why we have diminished this methodology for developing people in recent years.

A couple of premises have to be established for this relationship to work. First, the mentor or coach is humble enough to admit and confess they are not perfect. The best coaches in sports were not the best players, many of them were bench warmers. They do however understand the game well and are able to instruct others on what it takes to play at the highest level. So too the player must understand this about the coach and not discredit them for their inability to fully live what they are teaching.

Second, the person being coached needs to understand the ultimate objective and stay focused upon that. Jesus is the ultimate example and the true Lord of all. As Paul noted, the Thessalonians looked to Paul for a practical understanding of how to live the Christian life but they also pursued knowing Jesus personally. The student must never become so enamored with the instructor they forget the purpose of the instruction; which is the becoming like the perfect model.

If each one would encourage one in knowing God and doing good we would all be better Christians and see a lot more good in the world.