LAST BLOG OF EUROPE. Next week- I’ll be traveling to Zambia in Africa!!
Macedonia has grown me in more ways than I anticipated. Before I left for the Race, I was told that I would have a lot more free time than I would expect, but that hadn’t happened until this month. With that extra time, I had the option to grow in knowledge of the Word, in prayer, and in unity with my fellow sisters. I have definitely grown in those, and for that I’m so thankful.
Specifically one thing I grew in- preaching! I preached for the very first time!
Before I went up to talk, I had no idea what I was going to say. I was sitting in my seat as I listened to another girl give her testimony, just waiting on the Holy Spirit to tell me what he wanted me to say. And I kid you not, about 4 minutes before I walked up to the stage, I knew what I wanted to talk about. Just one simple verse popped in my mind, but a pretty loaded verse if you ask me.
“Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children.” -Ephesians 5:1.
Thats it! I preached one 1 verse for about 10-15 minutes, because it’s much more than just 8 words, but instead is packed full with implications and messages. Really you just need to look at 4 of those words- be imitators of God.
What does that mean?
Am I supposed to create things from nothing? Create universes by willing them to happen? I’ve never seen God’s face, so it can’t be to imitate his looks.
But no. To imitate God, all we need to do is look to Christ. The Holy Trinity says that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all God, so Christ is indeed the God we are to imitate. And there are PLENTY of examples of how to do that.
-be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as Christ forgave you (Eph 4:32)
– in humility, count others more significant than yourselves (Phil 2:3)
-encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all (1 Thess 5:14)
-do not repay evil for evil but on the contrary bless (1 Peter 3:9)
-love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Mat 5:44)
-if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also (Mat 5:39)
-whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them (Mat 7:12)
The list goes on and on! If we are to truly be imitators of God, we just need to look to how Christ lived. He ate with sinners, with tax collectors, with prostitutes. He touched people with leprosy. He let children come play with him, and loved people where they were, not where they should be. As he hung upon the cross, he forgave his killers.
That’s pretty bold. I can hardly forgive people for the smallest things, let alone forgive the people that just beat me to death. As I’m writing this now, I think about how far I am from truly imitating God. Thankfully, I serve a God that gives endless amounts of grace and forgiveness, so I am never too far gone to be loved and accepted by him.
Praise Jesus for that.
