Follow God’s Example

(Eph. 4:17-5:14)

Bottom Line: As a child of God, you are a new person in Christ, SO ACT LIKE IT!

Conform your attitude and behavior to match that of Our Heavenly Father

“according to God’s likeness in righteousness, purity and truth” (Eph. 4:24; 5:1)

As adopted sons of God, we have privileges, but we also have responsibilities

Our “old person” was corrupted by deceitful desires

Deceitful in the sense that they promise joy and fulfillment but deliver pain and emptiness by
enticing us into sin

As adopted sons, we should adopt the same values as Our Father, values articulated and
demonstrated for us by Jesus

Values: guiding constructs or ideas, representing deeply held generalized behaviors, which are
considered by the holder, to be of great significance.

Where do people get their values?

– Home
– School
– Church (or other place of worship)
– Life Experience
– Work Experience
– Books
– News Media
– Entertainment Media

Which of these has the greatest impact on most Americans today?

The average American, by the age of 65, will have spent the equivalent of 15 years
of their life watching television.

By contrast, over the same time period, the average weekly church-going American
will have spent only 8 months of their life receiving spiritual instruction.

What are core Christian values?

Honesty, respect, responsibility, fairness, compassion, perseverance and courage

 Honesty (see Ex. 22:10; 23:1–3; Lev. 19:11–12, 35-36; Deut. 25:13–16;
Prov. 6:16-19; 11:1; 12:17-19 & 22; Eph. 4:25)

Honesty
Builds/Maintains Trust
Fosters Community
Makes Communication more Efficient & Effective
Demonstrates Respect for the Dignity of Others

“Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and

transparent anyway.” - Mother Teresa

Respect: To give particular attention to, show consideration for, or hold in

high or special regard (Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, 10th Edition)

Human Dignity is the intrinsic worth that inheres in every human

being. The source of human dignity is rooted in the concept of Imago
Dei, in Christ’s redemption and in our ultimate destiny of union with
God. Every human being should be acknowledged as an inherently
valuable member of the human community and as a unique
expression of life, with an integrated bodily and spiritual nature.

“Never look down on anybody unless you're helping him up.” - Jesse
Jackson

Responsibility

“I am only one, but still, I am one. I cannot do everything but I can do

something. And, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do what
I can.” - Edward Everett Hale, American clergyman and writer (1822-1909)

“The question for each man to settle is not what he would do if he had the
means, time, influence and educational advantages, but what he will do with
the things he has.” - Hamilton Wright Mabee

“Any man’s life will be filled with constant and unexpected encouragement
if he makes up his mind to do his level best each day.” - Booker T. Washington,
American educator (1856-1915)

“I long to accomplish some great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to
accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.” - Helen Keller,
American social activist, public speaker and author (1880-1968)
 Fair: just, equitable, impartial, unbiased, objective. Involves a elimination (or at
least a minimalization) of one's own feelings, prejudices and desires, so as to achieve a
proper balance of conflicting interests. Implies an equitable distribution of burdens and
benefits. John Rawls argues in A Theory of Justice that rules are fair if they are rules
that the people operating under them would have agreed to, had they been given an
opportunity to accept or reject them beforehand.

“This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we
make it a good place for all of us to live in.” - Theodore Roosevelt,
American adventurer and 26th president (1858-1919)

Justice: demonstrating fairness, equity, impartiality, righteous action,

conformity to truth, conformity to law

“justice occurs on earth when power and authority between people

are exercised in conformity with God’s standards of moral excellence.” -
Gary Haugen, in The Good News About Injustice, InterVarsity Press,
1999.

Compassion: "sympathetic consciousness of another's distress together with

a desire to alleviate it" [Webster's 7th New Collegiate Dictionary], fellow
feeling, the emotion of caring concern; the opposite of cruelty, in Hebrew
rahamanut, from the word rehem, 'womb', based on the idea of sibling love
(coming from from the same womb) (see also Matt. 18:27; Luke 10:30-37 (Parable
of the Good Samaritan); 1 John 3:17; Jude 1:22; Eph. 4:32, involves forgiving)

"The word 'care' finds its roots in the Gothic 'Kara' which means
lament. The basic meaning of care is: to grieve, to experience sorrow,
to cry out with.. . . A friend who cares makes it clear that whatever
happens in the external world, being present to each other [now] is
what really matters." [Henri Nouwen, Here and Now, p. 105]

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind

word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring,
all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”--Leo Buscaglia

Leo Buscaglia discovered that the capacity for compassion is not

limited to wise elders. He was once asked to judge a contest to find
the most caring child. The winner was a four year old whose next door
neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.
Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard,
climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his mother asked him
what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just
helped him cry."

“I expect to pass through the world but once. Any good therefore that
I can do, or any kindness I can show to any creature, let me do it now.
Let me not defer it, for I shall not pass this way again.” - Stephen
Grellet, French/American religious leader (1773-1855)
 "Men are only great as they are kind.” - Elbert Hubbard, American
entrepreneur and philosopher (founder of Roycroft) (1856-1915)

"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror
that reflects it.” - Edith Wharton, American novelist (1862-1937) -

“Compassion is the basis of morality.'' - Arthur Schopenhauer,

German philosopher (1788-1860)

All we need in order to be moral human beings is compassion. - Nina

Rosenstand summarizing the view of David Taylor in Good and Evil,
from The Moral of the Story: An Introduction to Ethics, McGraw-
Hill, 2004.

Perseverance/Fortitude - steadfast determination to continue on despite

adversity usually over a long period of time.

Some Biblical References: Job 17:9a, the righteous one holds fast to his
way; Hos. 12:6b, endure to the end, John 8:31-32, 2 Cor. 13:5, keep proving
yourself; Gal. 5:1–4, stand fast; Gal. 6:9, do not give up in doing what is fine;
Phil. 1:27, stand firm, striving side by side; Phil. 4:1, stand firm; 1 Thes. 5:21,
hold fast to what is fine; 2 Thes. 2:15–17, stand firm, maintain your hold; 1 Tim.
6:11–12, pursue endurance; 2 Tim. 2:12, go on enduring; 2 Tim. 3:14, continue
in the things you have learned; 2 Tim. 4:7–8, fight the fine fight, finish the course;
Heb. 2:1, pay attention to what you have heard that you not drift away; Heb.
3:14, make fast your hold to the end; Heb. 10:23, 35–36, hold fast to the
declaration of our hope, you have need of endurance; James 1:2-4,
perseverance must finish its work, 2 Pet. 3:17, do not fall from steadfastness.

"When the morning’s freshness has been replaced by the weariness of

midday, when the leg muscles quiver under the strain, the climb
seems endless, and suddenly nothing will go quite as you wish--it is then
that you must not hesitate.” - Dag Hammarskjold, former U.N. Secretary
General

“Nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance. Talent will
not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Genius
will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Persistence and
determination alone are omnipotent.” - Calvin Coolidge

Courage: the ability to disregard fear; bravery. The Latin root of this word is
cur, which means heart. Courage literally means to “take heart”. Fear exists
along a continuum. Courage involves recognizing a reasonable amount of
fear or nervousness, facing it and then taking an intelligent risk.
 Moral courage involves standing up for one’s principles, in spite of
possible adverse consequences to such things as reputation or
emotional well-being.
“Courage is a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger and a
mental willingness to endure it.” - General William T. Sherman (for whom
the Sherman tank was named).

“Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway.” - John

Wayne

“Courage is the greatest of all virtues; because, unless a man has that
virtue, he has no security for preserving any other.” - Samuel
Johnson

“Courage is the ladder on which all the other virtues mount.” - Clare
Booth Luce (1903 - 1987), in Reader's Digest, 1979

“Courage is the footstool of the virtues, upon which they stand.” -

Robert Louis Stevenson

“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every
virtue at the testing point.” - C.S. Lewis

“Courage is strength of mind, capable of conquering whatever

threatens the attainment of the highest good.” - St. Thomas Aquinas

“We must constantly build dykes of courage to hold back the flood of
fear.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

“One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with
potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with
consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.” - Maya
Angelou (1928 - )

“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena... who
strives valiantly... who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best,
knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the
worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his
place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither
victory nor defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt

Anger

Be Angry and do not sin (Eph. 4:26)

It’s o.k. to have, but not to act out of.

Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, and don’t give the Devil a foothold (Eph. 4:26-27)
 It’s o.k. to have, but not to hold.

“Anyone can become angry, but to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the
right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way – this is not easy.” Aristotle

Don’t Steal

There is all kinds of way to steal

Do honest work with your own hands

Avoid “Rotten talk”

Including profane, abusive, impure, insulting, degrading, slandering or otherwise hurtful

(including gossip)