If you’ve spent much time around young kids, you’ve probably witnessed their extraordinary ability to ‘imitate’ people around them. Afterall, it’s an important part of how kids learn! Kids learn to speak by imitating the sounds of their parents—‘mama, mama!’ ‘dada, dada!’ But this learning by imitation is not always positive. I’m sure plenty of you have witnessed a kid who has recently learned to imitate the word ‘NO!’ or some other less desirable words.
Imitation isn’t something that we leave behind in childhood. In fact, in our reading from John, Jesus calls us to imitate him—to love each other, just as he has loved us.  So what does that love look like?

• It looks like the compassion that Jesus saw for the crowds that came to him.
• It looks like the mercy that Jesus showed to sinners and the sick.
• It looks like Jesus’ willingness to suffer and die for all of us undeserving sinners.

That is the love that Jesus calls us to imitate.  That sounds like a pretty big ask, how can we ever manage that?  Well, it all comes back to what Jesus has done for us and how the Spirit empowers us to ‘imitate.’  Think of forgiveness. When we receive forgiveness for our sins, we are set free from their burden.  With freedom from the burden, we can pass that same freedom on to others by forgiving them!
As we continue to imitate Jesus, we keep our eyes set on him and his great love for us, and that’s how we continue to learn and grow deeper in love as children of God!