Imitators of God

Many years ago, my daughter and I babysat the sweetest little toddler every Monday and Tuesday. We would take so much delight in him making all kinds of silly noises to make him giggle and sometimes he would copy what we were doing, in turn making us laugh. If we clicked our tongues, he would click his. If we pretended to cough, he would cough and if we clapped our hands, he would clap his. 𝗛𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲.

Eph 5:1a tells us; “𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏.” We need to watch and observe our Heavenly Father, how does He behave, what would His response be in this situation? The ‘therefore’ tells us that the verses before Ephesians 5 are speaking on the same subject. “𝑮𝒆𝒕 𝒓𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓, 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒘𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒆. 𝑩𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖.” (Eph 4:31-32)

We need to be kind and tenderhearted, quick to forgive, just like our Father. We need to walk in love, just like our Father. If we study the bible, we will find a God who is good, kind, patient, faithful, humble, loving, forgiving, joyful, peaceful, tenderhearted, oh, did I say patient?! Thank you, LORD, that you are patient with me. This one who is so slow to learn!

I could go on and on and fill this page with all the beautiful character traits that make up this incredible, Almighty God of ours. Traits that we are called to imitate. Just as that little toddler made us smile when he clapped his sweet hands so will the Father smile as we imitate him and move in kindness, or perhaps finally forgive. 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁, 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝗛𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹, 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻!