Do not imitate what is evil but what is good 3 John: 1:11

Here John writes to Gaius his dear friend, about Diotrephes - a bad example. We do come across several such bad examples in our lives. It is very important to take special care not to "become" a bad example ourselves.

Aren't we curious to know what Diotrephes did that made him a bad example. Let's see, my interpretations within parenthesis below...

* First of all, he loved to be first (the me, me, me syndrome - sounds familiar?)
* He gossiped maliciously (talking ill of Pastors and other ministers doing the work of God)
* He refused to welcome the brothers (not having to do anything with people from different denominations)
* He also stopped those who wanted to welcome the brothers (discouraging friends who do...)
* He put those who welcomed the brothers out of the church (worst, barring such friends from "our type" of gatherings)

Sadly we can immediately associate these characteristics of Diotrephes with some people we know... Let us analyze ourselves too to see if we fall through the crack anywhere...

Let us set a resolution right now not to imitate what is evil but only what is good! Shall we?