Love: A Necessary Virtue

What's love got to do with it? Everything. That was Paul's message to the Corinthians, it was Jesus' message in his public ministry, and it is God's message to us today. Sadly I believe many professing Christians have moved far away from this essential truth of the gospel. The basis of the cross, and God's act in salvation had everything to do with His love. We know that his love for even the reprobate is demonstrated in His common grace, and therefore as children of God, are we not to be imitators of our Lord? In Ephesians 5:1-2 , we see this admonition in plain language:

"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

The point is this: We are the spiritual offspring of God. We have been born again, born from above and born of God. Our identity is that we are children of the Most High God. Therefore, we are to imitate (mimites)- mimic God. To mimic means to copy closely, or repeat another’s actions, speech and behavior.  To Mimic God we are called to repeat his actions, speech and behavior.  Essentially- Mimicking God calls us to reflect the character of God in our life. To be God like. It is nothing different that what Jesus said in Matt 5:48. “That we be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect”, or in Luke 6:36 “To be merciful as your Father in Heaven is merciful”

But the only way it is going to happen is when we spend more time with the Lord. Just like our own children become facsimiles of us, by spending time around us, we become facsimiles of God by spending time with him. But how can we spend more time with the Lord? How can we know him better? Through bible reading, prayer and worship.  When we spend more time with the Lord, we will be able to repeat his actions, echo his speech and duplicate his behavior. Essentially- the more time we spend with God, the more we will be able to love like Him, see the world as He sees it, and be imitators of God.