Imitate Christ!

Ephesians 5:1-2  Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

Why is it that when we are children we often try to mimic a specific person? It may be a character from a cartoon or movie. It may be a superhero or famous person from history. It may even be a family member such as your dad. Who it is that we may have tried to mimic might vary, but the reason why we mimicked them will mostly be the same, in that we wanted to act just like they did/do.

In order to be able to be like someone, you need to do everything that they did. If they walk a certain way then you need to walk that way. If their voice sounds a certain way then your voice needs to sound like theirs as well. You are trying to be just like someone else in every way possible, which is exactly like everyone who claims to be a Christian should do, by imitating Christ.

John 13:34-35  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

If a child says a line that a popular cartoon character might say, then you know who it is that they are trying to imitate. By the way that they act you can tell what a person is, and this applies to our faith in Jesus as well. If we love one another as Jesus has loved us, then others who see our actions will know that we serve Christ. 

Just like a mimicking child, we should desire to mimick the actions of the Lord, in everything that we do. If Jesus would have done it then we need to as well. If we are uncertain about how to do something all we need to do is take a look in the Holy Scriptures and we will find the answer of what we need to do. The Bible is our answer book to the questions that we have, and it will tell us all that we need to do for us to be a follower of Christ.

The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:1 “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” Because Paul was a faithful servant of the Lord who kept the teachings that Jesus taught, to follow the things that Paul taught is really following Christ. Paul is an excellent role model that every Christian can look to, because he modeled himself after Christ.

So how did Jesus live, and how did He act? What important quality did He show? Jesus showed love. Love your neighbor as yourself, He taught. That’s really not that hard when you think about it, is it? If you can do that then you will truly be doing the will of the Lord. Show love, not hate. Bless, not curse. Obey, not rebel. 

So to want to be like Jesus? Then hear His words: 

John 15:12-17  This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

These things I command you, that ye love one another.

The time is now. Imitate Christ!

In Christ

Andrew

(Andrew is no longer a part of this ministry, as he purposely lied, deceived me, and then betrayed me. These were not innocent mistakes but they were carefully planned out beforehand, and the clear markings of the works of the devil. Lying is one of the worst sins of all, because those involved with these types of work will inherit the lake of fire. I loved him dearly, but his love for the teachings of Christ abandoned Him. I baptized him by submersion over 25 years ago, gave him Holy Communion and biblical instruction regularly, but then he chose to do things that completely deny the things I ever taught him. The actions that he took were done willfully and with intent and go completely against many of the things that he speaks about in his writings. What he is now no longer represents the things that I believe, and I’m just letting you that he’s no longer a part of this ministry. Although many of these writings are helpful, they were written during a different time of his life because he completely abandoned this calling, and joined up with the world instead. Nothing can dictate Our lives more than a love for Christ Jesus and being chosen to His service, because every other matter will have to take second place. But he chose to forsake the plow, and renounce his duties, because the love for other things in this world became greater then the things of God.)