“Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” Ephesians 5:1-2
While recently reading Ephesians, these couple verses stood out to me. We are God’s dearly loved children and we have the high calling of reflecting who our Father is. Jesus Himself is our perfect example of what it looks like to bear God’s image. It looks like living a selfless life of love and sacrifice. It looks like doing what is best for others, even when it comes at our expense. This kind of life is very pleasing to God. It is who God is Himself.
There are so many things in this world that we can give our energy toward imitating- the latest fashion trends, a celebrity, a great athlete, a co-worker, a popular kid at school. It seems we are born into this world searching for a lost identity. It is easy to find ourselves searching for something to give us a bit of substance. It is easy to end up becoming an imitator of the wrong things.
God’s Word reminds us of our prime example in life and that we have a secure identity in Him: We are dearly loved children of God and we are called to reflect who our Father is because we bear His image. We could search the world high and low and find no image better to bear. God has made us in His own likeness. He calls us to imitate Him. And His is the path of selfless love. His is the way of constantly considering, “How can I do what is best for those around me? How can show love like Christ has loved me?”
There are many specifics that could be given to these questions, but the main thing to remember is that we are dearly loved children of God who are called to love others as Christ has loved us. This is very pleasing to God.