God gives us this command in 1 Peter 1:16: “Be holy, for I am holy.”

In our last post, we discovered that in context, God is speaking through the apostle Peter to those who are God’s children, those who have a personal relationship with Him by accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

If you have been “born again”, forgiven of your sins, and adopted into God’s family, your heavenly Father is saying to you, “Imitate Me.  I am your Father.  Be holy, for I am holy.”

Why?

God has called His children to be His ambassadors on the earth and to bring Him glory.

As you live a holy life that reflects the goodness of your Father, those around you will see your changed life.  They will know that God is holy.  Your example can help them believe the Gospel (Good News of Jesus) and respond to God’s invitation to receive forgiveness of sins and a relationship with Him.  1 Peter 2:9-12 says it this way:

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

“Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.”

In our next blog, we’ll look at what actually makes a life “holy”.

What Do You Think?

How will you imitate God this week?

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