Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and walk in love, as Christ also loved us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God. Ephesians 5:1-2 CSB

Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1 CSB

Imitation can have both positive and negative connotations. As children we tend to imitate our parents or other adults that we admire. We want to be like them. How many of us, as we get older, realize we have some mannerisms or a turn of phrase that is just like our mom or dad? Yeah, me, too. Comedians might imitate someone to get a laugh. But as Christians, who should we be imitating?

Paul wrote both of our verses for today. He is encouraging the early churches, and us, to be “imitators of God” because we are His “dearly loved children.” We are to “walk in love,” imitating the love Christ has for us. Paul also tells us that just as he is imitating Jesus Christ, so should we.

As we journey along our paths as Christians, we must put off our old worldly ways and put on, imitate, Jesus Christ. In John 3:30, John the Baptist, speaking of Jesus, tells his followers, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” And just like John the Baptist, our old selves need to decrease as we imitate Jesus and increase our faith and likeness to Him.

This week, let’s all examine our imitation of others. Who do we tend to imitate? A family member, a friend, a coworker, a celebrity? Let’s work to imitate our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let’s put on love and humility, forgiveness and obedience, and empathy. Let’s let Him increase as we decrease.

I thank God for each of you! And I thank you for joining me this week as we work to imitate our Lord Jesus.

Blessings and joy as we imitate Jesus and His love flows out to others!