Tuesday #3 Devotion

Ephesians 5:1-2--(1)Be imatators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children.
(2)and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us
as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

I was watching my youngest daughter the other day. She loves to play with her older
sister. However, because she is so young, she usually ends up simply imitating her. She
toddles around after her sister and will mimic what she sees. We had to have a discussion
with our oldest regarding this situations because of the responsibility that is now upon
her. Because she will have someone following after her and imitating her behavior, it is
her responsibility to not abuse that power. She must be a good example. What our
youngest daughter sees performed, she will assume is proper behavior and will, in turn,
adopt it as her own. That was evidenced when she started simply saying, "Okay," every
time her sister told her something to do. She trusts so implicitly the authority of her
sister that no matter what she is asked to do, she willingly does it.

Our relationship with God before our children should be like that example. We should work
so intently to formulate our lives and structure it after the example of the love of God. We
can trust that what He tells us to do will only benefit our lives and enhance the goodness of it.
We can trust how seriously God takes the responsibility of being the perfect example before
us. We can simply imitate His way of life and know that it will bring forth profit.

In my home, I may have to work right now to help my oldest not abuse this
admiration displayed by her sister.
But God will never abuse our trust of His guidance. And the more
we live like He wants us to, the better our home life will become as a result.

When structuring our life to imitate God's example, the number one facet we will adopt
is love. That is the foremost characteristic of God' s nature. In fact, He tells us in I John 4:8
that He IS love. It defines who He is. It marks the merit of His character. Our imitating
that character trait will shower blessings into our lives. When we funnel the love of God
to our family, they will be affected by it. So, let's work today to be an imitator of the love
of God to our children. Let's live a life of love for our family's sake.

Confession: I will live a life of love before my family today. I am
an imitator of God and I will show my family His good nature
today. The example that I lead before my family today will bring
forth great blessings in our lives as our love grows more and more.