Article June 1, 1998 Issue

Who are your heroes?

We can learn a lot about ourselves and about God when we follow Christ Jesus' example.

By Lynn Gray Jackson

Many people have someone they look up to or admire. For some, it's a famous person. For others, a public servant, a teacher at school, a coach, or someone who has reached out a hand to help in time of need has a great influence on their lives. There's something about the qualities a particular individual expresses that makes us say, "I want to be like that!"

Of course we want to be like our heroes. But it's important to make sure the people we admire are really worth following. You've probably learned, as I have, that heroes are ordinary people, too. And that means they come up against the same temptations you and I face. When someone we greatly admire doesn't live up to our expectations, we may feel discouraged or angry.

Through our prayers, however, we can learn to recognize what is truly good, what is God-given, and in this way avoid being taken in by mere human charisma. What's more, we can and should expect good and right thinking to predominate in every individual.

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