Loved ones, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
3 John 1:11 TLV
Lately I have been pondering my walk with God, and the level to which I have surrendered my life. A believer’s life should be a surrendered life. There is no question about it.
While I have let go of so many things for the sake of the Lord, I’ve realized that sometimes I imitate worldliness without even realizing it. It is so easy to do. We look at those around us, even well meaning Christians, and follow their lead. I have been guilty of asking for others’ opinions about how I should live my life without consulting the Word of God first. This is never a good thing!
In 3 John 1:11, we are told to imitate what is good. But what does that even mean?
It can be easy to look for the “good” in what others are doing, and to imitate that. But when we do this, we don’t have a true baseline to measure our actions to.
True goodness is defined in the Bible. God is the author of all that is good, and we need to look to Him for our instructions. We know this is true, because John says “the one who does good is from God.”
There are so many wonderful instructions in His Word. I can’t even begin to touch on them all! 1 John 5:3 says this: “For this is the love of God – that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.”
It has been on my heart to seek His commandments and to live by them. To surrender myself to them. To do the good things that the Lord has asked me to do!
I want my family to see a godly woman who considers others of more value than herself when they look at me. I want them to see me studying God’s Word, and to know just how important it is.
I want to quietly work with my hands while loving those whom God has entrusted me with. I hope for my children to see a meek and long suffering woman who loves the Lord with her whole heart.
Thankfully, the Lord is working more on me each day. I’m so thankful for His grace and mercy.
We can surrender to Him, and ask Him to show us what is good. Then we need to walk in it. We need to imitate it. It needs to become a real part of our lives.
With God’s help, we can do this friends. I hope that you have a lovely day seeking the goodness of God.
