# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1914_S32
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

32 Proceedings of the twenty-fifth convention

model is already there, Christ, and we may simply follow in his footsteps. The instruction is simple, clear and definite; all doubt, all uncertainty is excluded.

Be followers as dear children! We are not hirelings who follow for shameful gain like mercenaries who change leaders as soon as more money is offered them. We are not servants who toil in a slavish, sullen spirit and tremble before the driver's stick. We are dear children who cheerfully do their Father's work, with joy in the heart and song on the lips.

Walk as Christ walked! That is the highest, holiest, most exalted model. We could set no higher goal for ourselves in life.

Imitate Christ! But imitation requires contemplation. We must study our model closely and attentively, otherwise we shall misrepresent it and mislead people. — Contemplation, however, produces admiration. Because people do not rightly know Christ, therefore they, even Christians often, are so little truly enthusiastic for him. — Admiration, however, must be deepened into veneration, full of moving emotion and devout devotion. — Veneration will lead to imitation. Obedience is better than sacrifice. Our Christian walk does not consist in the knowledge of a number of Bible verses; it is not the state of a blissful feeling that expresses itself in languishing exclamations; it is rather active love, which gives and forgives, as Christ did. Imitate Christ! Be a Christian in deed, or do not call yourself a Christian either.

As Christ loved us, loved us from his birth to his death, walked in love, so a Christian also is to walk in love. It is to be, as it were, his element of life. As the air is the element in which the bird flies, as the water is the element in which the fish swims, so a Christian is to live, move and have his being in love. — As the love of Christ is a divine one, so also the love of a Christian is a divine love. It is not of the earth, not earthly. It is not a plant that grows in the wild field of the natural heart. The seed is a gift from heaven and takes root in the heart of a person which has been prepared as good ground by the Holy Spirit through the means of grace, Word and Sacrament. — Christ's love was a love in self-sacrifice. His life was full of privations. So we too must be ready to go without and to renounce. Rest and comfort, pleasure, gain, prosperity, esteem, favor, honor, life: love is ready to sacrifice everything. — Christ's love was a thoroughly practical one. He did not squander it thoughtlessly. All his works, all his sacrifices were carefully considered and were carried out to achieve a clearly defined purpose which he never lost sight of, namely the redemption of the sinful world. So our love too is not to be a