Be imitators of God as beloved children
As I read this verse, "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children." It makes me think of my own kids and how they try to imitate everything my wife and I do. Not just the good habits but the bad habits as well. My kids are so blessed to have both mommy and daddy to imitate. I grew up in a Christian faith based home. My biological dad passed away when I was only 3 months old, but I had plenty of uncles to look up to and imitate. My mom re-married when I was 7 years old to a wonderful man of God who continues to inspire me everyday.
There is one thing that I recognize as a big problem that a lot of people have when it trying to be imitators of God. They cannot see Him! Matthew 5:8 states, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." A lot of people struggle with fully committing to purity or being pure in heart. Their struggle is with habitual sin. I know that none of us are perfect but we are called by God to fully commit to Him and flee from all sin. I, myself, struggled with habitual sin for many years. I was addicted to pornography. I tried season after season and year after year to break away from the addiction just to find myself back at it again. I can say today, I am totally free from that addiction through the power of Jesus Christ.
In purity I can fully see what God is doing in my life and imitate what He does. It isn't a struggle anymore to figure out what is wrong and do what is right. This is possible because I only imitate what God is doing. God wants us to see and follow what He does. Going back to my kids, it's like teaching them how to write. It is much easier for my children to see and imitate how write when I demonstrate by example. I believe the Christian walk is meant to imitate what God does. Life is so much clearer and easier when God shows us what to do.
In order to fully commit to God I needed to find my identity in Christ. In that same verse we are called, "beloved children". We are fully loved by God. We are His children. What breaks my heart every time is when I see parents love their children conditionally. There are times when my spirit is lifted when I see other parents love their children unconditionally. I needed to see how much God loves me unconditionally in order to break free from the bondage of habitual sin. I found my identity in God's unconditional, unfailing, overwhelming love for me. He loved us so much that He gave His only begotten son to save us (John 3:16). We are beloved children.
In John 5:19-20 Jesus said "…the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel." We cannot do anything without seeing what the Father does. God wants to show us all things because He loves us.
What's holding you back from seeing God and what He does?
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