Jesus is the only “pattern” we must follow. And because He really lives His life in us, we too can “walk even as He walked” (1 John 2.6), and “do as He has done” (John 13.15), “love as He has loved” (Eph. 5.1-2), “forgive as He forgave” (Col. 3.13), “have this mind, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2.5), and therefore we are able to follow the example He has left us (1 Pet. 2.21), lay down our lives for the brethren as He did (1 John 3.16). It is only because He became like us that we can become like Him.
–Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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