Walk This Way
Following Jesus in a World That's Lost its Way
“Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ.” (Philippians 3:17–18, NASB)
Paul’s words here are both tender and urgent. He writes as a spiritual father, pleading with those he loves to stay the course, to keep their eyes on Jesus and to walk in step with those who do the same.
Follow the Faithful
“Join in following my example,” Paul says. The word follow means to imitate together. Paul wasn’t saying, “Be like me.” He was saying, “Walk with me as I walk with Jesus.”
Proverbs 27:17 tells us that “Iron sharpens iron.” So, when we spend time with people who love Jesus, who serve humbly, forgive freely, and live with eternity in view, we find our own hearts stirred toward deeper devotion and service to Christ. Paul knew how easily we drift when our eyes wander from godly examples to ungodly ones.
My dear sister, who are you walking with? Who shapes your thoughts, your habits, your hope? Find those who love Jesus more than anything else and walk alongside them.
With Tears, He Warns
Then Paul’s tone shifts.
“For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ.”
Can you hear the heartbreak in his voice? He isn’t angry. He’s grieving. He weeps because there are those who seem to be in the faith but walk far from the cross. They claim to know Christ, but their lives tell a different story.
Enemies of the cross don’t always look hostile. Sometimes they look like friends. Other times they’re simply comfortable, resisting the call to die to self, and to pick up their cross daily to follow Jesus.
Live the Message of the Cross
The cross is not only the means of our salvation through Christ’s death. It’s a model for living. Hear me on this, sweet sister. To walk with Christ means living a crucified life and learning to lay down anyone or anything else that gets in the way of our relationsip with Jesus.
It’s also learning to say,
“Not my will, but Yours, Lord.” (Luke 22:42b)
Paul longed for the Philippians to live in such a way that the cross wasn’t just preached, but seen. Every act of love, every choice to forgive, every step of obedience is a testimony to the world that says, “I follow Jesus.”
Reflection for the Heart
Whose example am I following, and does it lead me closer to Christ?
Would others see Jesus in the way I love and serve?
Do I weep over sin, or have I grown numb to what grieves God’s heart?
A Final Word
In a world filled with counterfeits, following Christ still means picking up your cross daily and following Him along a narrow path. It’s the call to live a crucified life, to lay down self and find true life in Him.
“The one who says he abides in Him, ought himself to walk in the same way He walked.” (1 John 2:6)