Imitate God (Part 1)
Life lessons from a 14 month old baby
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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.
Ephesians 5:1-2 (ESV)
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Have you ever seen a baby walking around like he has back problems?
I once saw a super cute video showing such a thing.
See, his mother was pushing nine months of pregnancy for her second child. And so the baby — probably around 14 months — was walking around the house with his tummy stuck out and his hand on his lower back.
Waddling around the house like his momma.
Babies copy what they see their parents do.
This little guy was obviously too young to know why his momma was walking like that — all he knew was that’s what she did so I should do it too.
It’s a simple life.
Completely dependent on the parents.
And we all should take a lesson from this little teacher.
We ought to walk around just like Jesus did.
Sure, our steps will be a little unsteady and maybe we can’t get all the right words out. But we’re doing our best to look like Christ and that’s what matters to the loving Father.
He can fill in the gaps later.
I’m not surprised that Paul shared this word picture with us on what imitating God should look like. Without it, I’d probably over-complicate everything and get caught in all the details of the example that Jesus set. Instead, all I have to do is imitate God the best way I know how … and trust the Holy Spirit to fill what’s missing.
It’s a simple life, really.
— Ricky Ketchum
Copyright © 2025 by Ricky Ketchum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV®Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright© 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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