Reflection by: Ivy Garcia
1 Corinthians 11:1
And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.
The Apostle Paul invites us to follow what Christ modeled in His life. And so, as followers of Jesus we are to be like Jesus. To imitate Christ also means that we must imitate His love. Essentially, the bible tells us that He is love. His very nature is love. Throughout the ministry of Jesus on earth, He showed love to others by blessing and serving the poor, the sick, the widower, and all the lost and sinners. Jesus is the perfect model of love. He gave His life for us and He lived an amazing life for others.
So, as children of God, we are encouraged to imitate that walk in love. When we love Jesus with all our heart, our capacity to love others will grow. Such is the nature of love. We can show love for others by being completely gentle, humble, patient, bearing love with one another, and by being sincere in our relationship with other people. It is also important that when we show love for other people, we are authentic. To be authentic simply means that when we make a mistake, we admit it. And then we ask for forgiveness, we don’t try to rationalize or make excuses or blame others. Admitting our mistake is not something we should avoid because admission signifies our humble love for God.
Prayer :
“Heavenly Father, thank you for modeling what it means to truly love others. I pray Father God that you cleanse my heart for the times I don’t reflect your love to others. Please forgive me for the instances I failed to follow Your example. Teach me Lord to model what it means to be controlled by the Holy Spirit and become a great imitator of Jesus. I lift up all things that weigh me down in my faith walk and I offer this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus, AMEN.”
Let us all imitate Jesus! – His love, His character, His humility….