Imitation is the highest form of flattery. If someone mirrors your actions then they think you are a worthy example to follow and want to be more like you so they imitate or copy you. Children and siblings do this all the time. Children copy their parents. Siblings imitate each other. It’s a sign of love, trust, and respect.
John tells us if we are going to imitate anything or anyone it should be God and His goodness. Goodness comes from God so when we imitate goodness we are imitating one of God’s fundamental traits. However, if we copy evil and follow its lead then we are not of God and truly have not even seen God. If we truly respected God and saw Him in this world, we would not imitate evil. We would flea from it. We would condemn it. We would seek to help those caught up in it.
There are only two sources of inspiration for us to imitate: God and His goodness or Satan and evil. You can not walk a middle ground between the two. And just like children and siblings do with their family, if we are going to imitate God we need to try our very best to be exactly like Him. We want everyone to know who we are copying.
Don’t be ashamed to be an imitator of Christ. Don’t br timid in your imitation of God’s goodness. Your actions is how others will see God. Help them find their way out of the dark and into God’s marvelous light.
Adonai's Appeal 