What are my responsibilities as God’s adopted child?

Ephesians 5:1Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.

Ephesians 5:8Once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!

Colossians 3:12-14Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.

1 Thessalonians 4:7God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives.

1 Peter 1:14-16So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.

As God’s children, we must grow in the character of our heavenly Father, modeling obedience, holiness, purity, mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and love.

John 13:34-35“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

John 15:12“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.”

Galatians 3:28There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 6:2Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.

1 John 4:19-21We love each other because he loved us first. If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.

Revelation 7:9-10After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”

One of the most distinctive qualities of a healthy family is that its members show love and care for each other. If we are to love our heavenly Father fully, we must live in loving ways toward his other children.