Be Imitators of Christ

Gosh, I am not sure how to start. It has been a while since I have written but the Spirit continues to impress upon me the need to talk about being imitators of Christ.

One thing is for sure, I don't want to be like the movie stars and other celebrities who are rich and never happy; who live drug filled lives and commit suicide. I just wonder are there any celebrities who are happy. But I am certain of one thing: I desire to be more like Christ every day.

I am becoming turned off more and more of watching these celebrities in the movies or supporting their lifestyle by going to movies or watching TV. They are going to have to show me a little bit more! They need to follow Christ's standard and not the world standard.

After watching these movie starts and athletes just waste their lives away and never seem to be satisfied with all that they have, I know for sure I would never imitate or desire to be like any of them!

The Bible tells us in Ephesians 5:1 "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. " Just as children imitate their parents, we should imitate Christ. His great love for us led him to sacrifice himself so that we might live. Our love for others should be of the same kind --- a love that goes beyond affection to self-sacrificing service.

It goes on further in this chapter to say, "But among you, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. (v. 5)

God is holy and perfect, and it is His expectation that those He chose, us, be holy and perfect also. I hear the cliche that only Christ is perfect and how can we be perfect because we are humans. No human is perfect.

Guess what? God is expecting for us to try to be perfect as His son was. We need to follow and imitate Christ's standard.

There should be not even a hint of sexual immorality, and yet the world is preoccupied with what is hot! And I ask, just what is hot! Sex, immoral conduct? No, just our own lustful thoughts and desires. All of which are not pleasing to God. Any kind of impurity, or greed, both of which led us to selfishness and darkness, living out our own desires which led to sin. Sin which separates us from God.

We are impure because we refuse to come out of the darkness and into the light. We like darkness because it gives us an excuse to hid; to sweep our sins under the rug. We are greedy and seek only what we desire and not what God desires of us. We live in a "me" society; it is all about "me." Later for compassion, sincerity, and concern for those who are less fortunate than ourselves.

The sad thing about greed is that it never satisfies. The more a person gets, the more the person thinks he needs. Only God can satisfy our needs. We are reminded that our love for others should be of the same kind of love that Christ had for us, an unselfish love.

I feel those who are very fortunate financially should be happy and content, but yet they desire to be sexually immoral, impure and greedy, only thinking of themselves. What good is it to have the world and lose your soul?

Thought for Today: When you think about imitating someone, think about imitating Christ, who gave His life so you could live.