Imitate Christ - 1 JOHN 2:3-6

We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God[a] is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. It is natural for children to imitate their parents. Children often have their parent’s nature, their behavior and their actions. You can be around a child and you can see their parents in the way they walk, the way they talk and in the things they do. While that is true in our earthly families, it is equally true in our heavenly families. Like beloved children, who are ever near the parent, learning, observing and growing, we are brought near to our Heavenly Father so that we might learn His ways and become more like Him. Paul, in the book of Ephesians, calls on the children of God to be imitators of Christ. Ephesians Chapter 5, Verse 1 and 2 (KJV), puts it this way: “Be followers of God.” The word “followers” means to “mimic” to be an “imitator.” This is a command for the people of God to imitate God. We are to learn all we can about God, and we are to mimic His characteristics. You can’t imitate a person if you don’t know anything about them, so we must learn all we can about the Lord from His word. We must put into practice everything we know about Him. We are to do the things we see Him doing, and we are to avoid the things He avoids. We are to be like God in every respect. In reality, God is commanding us to do something that is impossible within ourselves. Left up to us, we could never be imitators of God. We simply cannot imitate God through our own power. While we can’t be holy on our own, as redeemed children of God, we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to live like Him, act like Him, walk like Him and talk like Him. God has empowered us and enabled us to live holy lives for His glory. We are not mere slaves following in the footsteps of a demanding master. We are the sons and daughters of God. We have been redeemed by His grace, adopted into His family and partakers of His very nature. Being an “imitator” of God means we must imitate His “love.” After all, the Bible tells us God is love. His very nature is defined by His love. Everything He does, He does it out of love. As children of God, we are to imitate and walk in that love. How do we know that we are walking in love? The Bible is clear about this. Jesus says, “If you love me, keep my commandments” John 15:14. “He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” John 14:21 (NKJV). When I love Him, I will be like Him. When I am like Him, I will love like He loves. If you’ve been a spectator, agitator or an instigator, stop it today and pray to God that you will learn to become an imitator of Jesus Christ. Imitators of Christ can turn the world upside down for His glory!