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We see in the world that subjects imitate the King, slaves the master, children the father, students the teacher, and other people imitate other people. What one does, so does another, so does a third, and everyone does it. One made such and such chambers, and another and a third made the same ones. One began to walk in such and such a dress, and the others followed him in this. Same with other things. You see, Christian, what the sons of this age do and how they imitate each other. What should we do? Who should I imitate? We Christians are from Christ, who else should we imitate if not Christ, from whom we have our name. He is our King - we are His subjects. He is our Lord - we are His unworthy servants. He is our Father, from whom we were born again—we are His unworthy children. He is our Teacher - we are His unworthy disciples. Who should we imitate if not Him? Let the sons of this century imitate each other. We will put Christ and His holy life before us and will imitate the One who represents Himself to us as an image and imitation: “I have given you an example, that you also should do the same things that I have done to you” (John 13:15). He was humble, meek, quiet, patient, merciful, merciful, so poor that He had nowhere to lay His head, as He testifies of Himself: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His Head” (Matthew 8:20). Let us present these and other wonderful His virtues before our intelligent eyes and try to imitate them as much as possible. He was humble - we will also be humble before God and people. He loved everyone so much that He laid down His soul for everyone - let us love each other and Himself first of all. He was meek to all those who blasphemed Him; let us also be meek to those who reproach and reproach us. He was long-suffering in all His sufferings; we too will endure everything, no matter what happens to us. He despised all the glory, honor and wealth of this world, being the Lord of all, for His is “the earth and all that fills it” (Ps. 23:1) - we too will despise and love eternal blessings. We see that people imitate others for various reasons: some imitate to please those they imitate, others for their own pleasure and to please themselves, others for their own benefit. We, Christians, for all these reasons should imitate Christ our Lord. It pleases Christ when we imitate Him, for He wants this from us not for His own sake, but for our sake. This is pleasing and beneficial to us. What is more kind, more favorable and sweeter than to follow the humble Heavenly King, who became poor for our sake, meek, long-suffering, abundantly merciful, most kind, generous, the Lamb of God, the gentle, blameless, most pure? This is very useful for us. Judge for yourself, what is more useful than following Christ? He is the Light of the world. If we follow Him, we will not be in darkness, but in light. “I am the Light of the world; Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6). If we stick to this Path, we will truly not get lost. If we follow this Truth, we will not be deceived by the evil and charming world. If we remain in this Life, we will not die, but will live forever. You see, Christian, that it is not only useful, but also necessary to follow Christ. We, poor people, like sheep lost in this world, do not know the way to the heavenly Fatherland. Let us entrust ourselves to the leadership of our Savior Jesus Christ, and let us follow Him, and He will lead us to His Heavenly Father, into His eternal kingdom, for He says: “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Christian! If you are afraid to perish forever, and sincerely desire to be saved forever, believe in Christ, and humbly live on earth, as He lived, and you will be saved. I wish the same for myself and for you. You might be interested in: