1 Corinthians 11:1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
No matter how you look at life you learn things from others and you learn to do things by imitating others.
If we surround ourselves by horrible people then we are most likely to turn out the same way because we will imitate them.
These words were written down to remind us that we have to set an example for others because others will imitate us. Paul tried to imitate Christ in all his ways. He did not get it right all the time, but others were able to see how he was behaving and they were able to try to do the same.
Christ set the example for us to follow. The Apostles tried to set the example for others to follow. We need to try to set the example for our friends to follow so that one day they can set the example for others to follow them.