In the name of Christ Jesus, dear fellow redeemed people of God,

Have you ever seen somebody imitate the President of the United States? I think I can recall some comedian doing each President in my lifetime. Even I used to try to imitate President Nixon. No, I'm not going to show you. But I hope that you see me imitating God. Oh, don't misunderstand. We should never mock God, but we should imitate him in the way that we live and the way that we act. Today, God's Word speaks plainly to believers and says:

1. Forgive "as God forgave you";

God is forgiving. But are we? Take another look at our text and see if it convicts you when it says, {31} Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Suppose that somebody does something wrong against you. Do you become bitter? Do you blow your stack and throw a temper tantrum? Do you fight back? Or, do you whisper bad things behind that person's back?

Have you sinned in any of these ways? Whether you are willing to admit it or not, we have all sinned in some way. I am a sinner, and so are you. I hope that you are willing to admit that with me. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say that we are not sinners, we are only fooling ourselves, not God, and not those people who know us the best. We are sinners. We deserve God's punishment.

But, I have good news for you. God has forgiven all of your sins, and he's forgiven me too. Jesus lived a perfect life for us. When he was crucified, Jesus said, "Father, forgive them." Then he died and paid for all of our sins. And so, we are forgiven through Christ. But, remember, we are only forgiven because of what Jesus did on the cross! Whoever believes, receives that forgiveness and eternal life. But what about this life? How should we live?

Scripture says, {32} "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." Forgive as God forgave you. Remember what we say in the Lord's Prayer, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us."

Everybody agrees with this in church, right? We all nod our heads, "yes." This is a great idea! And then, we sing "Amen," and we walk out that door, and someone wrongs us by something they say or do, and when they ask forgiveness, what do we do? Do we forgive them, or not?

Today's bulletin insert talks about this. Peter asked Jesus how many times he had to forgive, but we really shouldn't be counting. Then, Jesus told the famous parable of the Unmerciful Servant. A certain man owed the king millions of dollars. When the king summoned him, he couldn't pay. He should have gone to jail, but when this servant fell on his knees and begged for mercy, the king granted him mercy. He forgave that whole debt - millions of dollars! Then, the unmerciful servant went right out and started choking a guy who owed him a few dollars. When that man fell on his knees and begged for mercy, the unmerciful servant refused! He threw him into prison. When the other servants saw what the unmerciful servant did, they told the king. The king summoned that unmerciful servant and rebuked him sharply. Then, he turned him over to the jailers to be tortured. Jesus ends his parable by saying, "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." That is some pretty sharp law! The Lord is serious about this!

Apply it to yourself. We come to church, confess our sins, and hear that they are all forgiven in Christ! Then, what happens after we walk out the doors? Maybe there's somebody out there who said something or did something wrong to us. And then, they say, "I'm sorry." Then, do you forgive them? Do you, really? Have you always done that over the years? God has forgiven us millions of sins. We owed a debt that we could never pay, and God forgave it all. Now, how dare we hold grudges - whether it's against a spouse, or a fellow member, a co-worker or a neighbor? Instead, follow these words: {1,2} "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 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."

2. Love "as Christ loved us."

Do you live a "life of love"? Before you answer that question, compare yourself to Christ for a moment. Christ loved us so much that he died on the cross for us. Jesus even died for the very people who put him on the cross! That's love! None of us deserved it, but Jesus loved us with self-giving, self-sacrificing love. His sacrifice purchased forgiveness for us. Now, we believers are God's children. And as true children, we want to imitate our heavenly Father.

But do you really know what God is like? We learn what God is like from his Word, the Bible, and from learning about Jesus. The song is right, "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." In the Gospels, we read how Jesus lived a life of love. He helped many people. He healed people. He was not afraid to go to the home of a tax collector. He loved people enough to point out their sins and their need for salvation. He loved people enough to die on the cross. Scripture says, "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Ro 5:8). If Christ had not died for us, we would have no forgiveness and no hope of eternal life. But, now that he loved us, we want to love others. We love because he first loved us.

Think through what this means. Christian husbands will strive to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Wives will want to love their husbands too. Parents will want to love their children and do what is best for them. Love does not mean giving them whatever they want. It means giving them what they truly need. Children not only need clothing and food and drink, they need to be disciplined. They need to learn right from wrong. Children have no greater need than the one thing needful: God's Word. They may not want you to wake them on Sunday mornings, but if you love them, you will bring them to hear and learn God's Word. And when they are older, you will not regret bringing them to hear God's Word. Believing children will love their parents in return. Single Christians will look for ways to encourage others, all the while remembering our Savior's words, "Surely, I am with you always." Believers are never left alone - never! Our Savior is always with us. We have companions in our fellow believers. We're kind of one big family. Love each other, as Christ loved us. The early Christians were known for that. People would say, "Oh, how they love one another." I hope that others will say that about us.

Dear believers be imitators of God! Always remember that you are forgiven through Christ! Never forget that God loves you in Christ. Then, may God's love and forgiveness move us to love and forgive others. When you go out that church door today, may it be with a firmer resolve to love and forgive others as God has loved and forgiven us. Amen.