Ephesians 5:1-2 – “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.”
I had so many heros when I was a kid. From the obvious sports heros to my parents and my grandfather, who was my first pastor, I found myself trying to be like all of these heros in my life. I would talk like them, walk like them, swing a bat or run the football like them or even “preach”like them.
Ephesians 5:1-2 encourages us to BE and to WALK. Both of these words have action to them.
The encouragement is to BE an imitator of God. To imitate is to mimic, model or impersonate. If I am to be an effective imitator of God, I have to study and know His Word so that I can know how to model my life after His. Another key in imitating God is to have friends that will encourage you and hold you accountable to this goal of BEING an imitator of God.
I am also called to the action of WALKING in love. We have seen over the last few days what walking in hate looks like as we have watched the events unfold in Virginia. If there was ever a time to understand what it means to “walk in love,” that time is right now. These verses remind me that Christ loves me and gave Himself up for me. What a beautiful picture of sacrificial love. If I am to truly BE like Christ, I have to WALK out this kind of sacrificial love in my life every day.
I began this blog talking about heros. Let me introduce you to another hero in my life, my 8th grade Sunday School teacher, Mr. R. J. Cambre. He had a huge job on his hands trying to teach 15 fidgety, talkative boys about Jesus. He did it with excellence and was an incredible picture of the sacrificial love of Christ! Ephesians 5:1-2 were his life verses, and he talked about them all the time. He was an incredible picture of what an imitator of God looks like. His walk was always filled with the love of Christ. I can still hear him encouraging that group of boys to BE and to WALK. Mr. Cambre continued to reach out and encourage those boys for many years after he had them in 8th grade. Here I am at 51 years of age, and I still remember the life of BEING and WALKING and the profound influence it has had on me through the years.
Can I encourage you today to BE an imitator of God and WALK in love in your family, workplace and community? There are lots of people in all those environments looking for a real hero, and maybe you can help them BE an imitator of God and WALK in love and become a godly hero to someone else one day.