When my kids were young they loved to imitate their daddy.
Once I got upset with myself and angrily kicked a wall, shouting, “Stupid!” Moments later, I heard my little daughter kick the wall too and shout, “‘Tupid!” Needless to say, my wife had a few words for me later about the example I was setting for our children.
Thankfully, our Heavenly Father sets a much better example for us to follow. We can’t go wrong imitating Him. His love and mercy have no bounds and, if we choose to imitate Him, neither will ours.
Ephesians 5:1 says, “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.” (NLT). Then verse 2 calls us to, “Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ.”
Too often “Christians” are better known for their intolerance, insensitivity, and selfishness than their Christ-likeness. A few years ago, a survey found the number one thing people thought when they heard the word “Christian” was “anti-gay” – and it didn’t get better after that! “Loving” didn’t even make the list!
Imagine how different our world would be if Christians actually imitated Christ, if they lived lives filled with love. Conflict would end, marriages would flourish, rifts would be repaired, the hungry would be fed, and the destitute would find a place called “home.”
Someday soon Jesus will come to take us to a place like that, to Heaven, where “…there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain” and where “the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all.” (Revelation 21:4, Isaiah 11:6).
Until then it’s up to us to bring a little bit of heaven into the world around us, to be imitators of Christ, living lives filled with love in a world filled with hate. We are to be beacons of hope, shining in the darkness, showing the world a better way, pointing them to a God who loves them with an everlasting love.
We cannot do this on our own, however. My children became imitators of me, for better or worse, by spending time with me. It is the same with us and God. It is only as we daily spend time with God, studying His Word and talking with Him, that we will become like Him and be able to love as He loves.
2 Corinthians 3:18 describes it this way, “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (NIV)
The world is in desperate need of “imitations”, people who imitate God’s love in their everyday lives. Today, determine to spend every moment in His presence, contemplating His glory, “being transformed into His image“, so you can truly be “imitators of God”, living “a life filled with love, following the example of Christ.”
May God guide you as you imitate Him today!
(This was originally posted in 2018).