Role Model

I was reading ESPN website over the weekend when the Michael Phelps story hit. I read the story and no shocking news other than he was smoking pot. Then I started to read the comments and was interested in reading so many people defending him, as a matter of fact I never got to one negative comment in my reading (gave up after about 40).

Most of the comments ran along the lines of "boys will be boys", "it should be legalized anyways", and "he should be allowed to do what he wants to do". I find myself agreeing with all of these things as an American, but am really sad for him as a Christian. I guess I see so many of these guys who work so hard at their sport and really hope they understand that it is God who gave them this ability and talent. I suppose I should not really assume this, and probably should assume little to nothing.

I think stories like this are a reminder to me that I need to be the role model for my boys in all of life. I also need to remember that I am going to fail them at one point or another and in this way I need to remind them that God is our ultimate role model.

What is a role model anyways? It is someone or something that we model our lives after, it is one in our image that we hope to imitate in one form or another. I remember when my wife was sick she received many books about people who had overcome the illness themselves and they were to offer inspiration, and some of them did.

The reality for us as Christians however is that we are all called to one role model. The one role model who made us in his image in the first place. The one who created us uniquely in our mothers womb. This is the one whom we must seek after in the end to model our lives because he is the only true example of what we are meant to become.