Galatians 6:5

“But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.”

Jesus Christ was our perfect example. If he were to ever say, why can't I sacrifice like John the Baptist? He would not have been amongst the people in the cities. If He were to say, why can't I be perfect like the Pharisees? He would have let the deception of religion backslide him into a white washed tomb. If He were to say, why can't I speak poetically like faithful King David? He wouldn't have been able to relate to the people of His time and love them exactly how they needed to be loved. Why do we find it okay to follow the great men of our nation and call it justified? Often we cry out to be more like this pastor, or if I can only think like this guy, sacrifice like this guy, love like that guy. It is good to respect a quality within a man, and admire his strength but never to think him great by his own works. Firstly, it will only lead you to be stumbled in your walk. If you follow the way of man he will inevitably fail you in one way or another and all the faith you had could crumble over one mans sin. Second, God does not call us to follow the sheep around us, He calls us to follow the shepherd. We are given a perfect plan for our life. Although we will never follow it perfectly, it is still singularly one path and one path alone. If Christ would have looked to others for heavenly guidance instead of heaven, my sins might not be washed by His blood today. I can't even fathom the repercussions. By conforming to others work we are cheapening His personalized will for our life. I need to rejoice in the realizations and plans God lays before me, for they are sweeter to my soul than any other. I am guilty of this type of idolizing because of it's tangibility, it is so easy to see the fruit they bear, taste it, and plan our lives around reproducing from our own lives. C.S. Lewis's fruit taste really really good. I mean really good. I would love to recreate those fruits. But God asks me to conform to His Son's fruits, and that is what I will try and do. Once again, Jesus Christ is our perfect example.