Imitators of God

 

As a person who has spent a lifetime in and around church, I find that I sometimes read and pass over a scripture passage without much thought. Recent events have helped me to slow down a bit and consider what God means by some of the things he tells us. Both Leviticus and I Peter contain verses that tell us that we are to be holy just as God is holy: “[L]ike the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior because it is written ‘You shall be Holy, for I am Holy.’”

Holiness is a tall order. How am I—a badly flawed human—to be like God? We all know it’s only through the blood of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. Those are good Sunday School answers, but they are good answers because they’re true, as a wise young person said to me this past week. We don’t want to slide too quickly over the profound idea that “it is God who works in [us] to will and to do his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). So, even though in my flesh I am decidedly not holy, as a child of God, with my sins paid for by Jesus, I possess his holiness. How am I, then, to conduct myself?

In Isaiah 48, God says that he is concerned about his “own name’s sake” (9). In other words, he has a reputation to uphold. In verse 11, he declares that he will not let his name be polluted. I, too, have a reputation to uphold, and so do you. If people know we are Christians, they expect a level of integrity that we are duty bound to display. This awareness has helped me walk away from volatile situations and think before I speak.

Other times call for moving forward instead of away. In our small group, our teacher, Burdette Burgen, made a statement this last week that stuck with me. I can’t recall the exact words, but the essence is that God always takes the first step toward us, initiating reconciliation and fellowship. We are admonished in Ephesians 5:1 to be imitators of God, and I immediately thought of a situation in my life in which I might need to take a first step toward an individual. So on Friday, I was able to do just that, resulting in what I hope is the beginning of a better relationship and improved outcome for this person.

It is sometimes said that you or I might be the only Bible some people read. Likewise, what people think of our God might be determined by our attitudes and actions. If the Holy God of the universe is protective of his reputation, we should also, as his representatives, guard our mouths and monitor our behavior, for in some situations, we stand in God’s place.

 

--Sherry Poff