The word "followers" is translatedfrom the Greek "mimētēs" which means "imitators." It's suggestive of following someone as a pattern, model or an example. It's akin to going after somebody, following how he does what he does. So, in actual context, it can be rendered, "Be ye therefore imitators of God." It means copy Him, act and talk like Him, because you're like Him. Someone might ask, "Isn't that going too far, to say we're like God?"

 

Well, we didn't even know it until God told us so in His Word, through the Apostle John: "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17). You're not inferior to God, neither are you His counterfeit; just like Jesus, you're the express image of His Person; the Word says as He (Jesus) is, so are we in this world. We're like Him now.

 

This consciousness would give you the audacity to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and be a blessing to the world, just like Jesus! It'll inspire extraordinary compassion in you to preach the Gospel, and win the lost the same way He did. Consider the account in Luke 7:12-15. The Bible tells us how the Master was moved by a widow's cry, whose only son had died and was being carried for burial. The Lord, full of love and compassion, raised the young man back to life.

 

Like the Master, you must back compassion with action. Express the love of God to others. Romans 5:5 says, "...the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." Walk in love, as Christ also has loved you.