God understands how powerfully examples influence us.
1 Corinthians 4:16: Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.
1 Corinthians 11:1: Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
1 Thessalonians 1:6: You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
1 Thessalonians 2:14: For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews.
Hebrews 6:12: . . . so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Hebrews 13:7: Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.
3 John 11: Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
How can you actually imitate God? The essence of the answer is by how you live in relationship to others. This is the theme of this portion of God's word. Five commands, basic to all the others in this section are built around the metaphor of walking:
Ephesians 4:1: Walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.
Ephesians 4:17: Walk no longer as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind.
Ephesians 5:2: Walk in love.
Ephesians 5:8: . . . now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light.
Ephesians 5:15: Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise . . .
- What To Imitate (1-2)
- What Not To Imitate (3-6)
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