Ephesians 5:1, 2 
Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God. (CSB)

Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that. (MSG)

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Our granddaughter mowed the yard at her new house last night. She is two years old, and her mower blows bubbles. She has watched her daddy mow the yard with his loud mower, and she imitates him with her quieter, more fun mower. I have a video if you want to see it. 

Imitation is how we learn to do most of the things we know how to do. We watch how others do it and repeat those actions again and again until we get it. 

At least, that’s the theory. It didn’t work for me in Trigonometry class when we used calculators with two functions on several buttons. To use the second function button, you first had to press the second function button. You may be as lost now as I was then. 

Disciples in Jesus’ day did what their Master did. They learned their way of life, they memorized their teachings, and they did so by imitating them. When the Apostle Paul tells us here to imitate God, he starts with the most important lesson Jesus lived. He began with sacrificial service.

Dear leaders, if you are not living a life of sacrificial service, you are not authentically leading like Jesus. 

Dear learners, if you are not learning from a sacrificial leader, find a different leader to learn from.

We are dearly loved children of God. We are to dearly love those we lead. Our every motive and action should be shaped by the kind of love that seeks the highest good for others. 

The love Jesus demonstrated “was not cautious but extravagant.” Like a player who exhausts himself or herself on the field of play, Jesus gave all he had. Go, thou, and do likewise. 

Jesus didn’t love people “to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.”

Imitating God means watching and listening to him. This is a daily diet, not a pleasant snack. This is a regular rhythm, not an occasional engagement. 

Reading the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each day helps us see how Jesus lived, how Jesus led, and how Jesus taught. He was a master storyteller. His stories always said more the more people pondered them. Two of his most famous stories still shape the hearts and minds of people who are not even religious. Everyone knows about the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. 

Memorize his stories. Write your own. Live a life shaped by the truths he taught. 

Watch Jesus and do what he did. If that sounds impossible, remember what he said just before he went to the cross:

“Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭12‬-‭14‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Do the works. Pray the prayers. Glorify God. 

Imitation, it has been said, is the sincerest form of flattery. It is also the sincerest means of transformation.

Dear Little One, mow like your daddy. 

Dear Believer, live and love like Jesus.

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I will live and love like Jesus.

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Our Father, show me how to live and love like Jesus. Empower me to do what I see Jesus doing. Shape my communication by your truth in stories people can clearly understand and faithfully apply. Make me extravagant in how I serve others in love. Amen.