Humans are born with a strong inclination to imitate. In fact, very young infants have been observed imitating facial expressions. That’s amazing! It makes me think of an experience I had some 40 years ago when Susan and I were in the circuit work. A sister told me that her little five-year-old son was looking in a mirror and making various expressions with his face and eyes. His mother asked, “What are you doing?” He said, “I can’t do like Brother Lett; I’ll never be a circuit overseer!” Well, I’m sure he soon learned that voluminous facial expressions are not a requirement for circuit work. In fact, they could be a disadvantage. By the way, thank you for putting up with me all these years. But how does a small child learn to walk, feed himself, and talk? He learns by imitating his parents and others. However, there’s one type of imitating that does not come automatically or even easily. It’s identified at Ephesians 5:1. It says: “Therefore, become imitators of God, as beloved children.” Notice the word “become.” We are not born as “imitators of God.” Because of inherited imperfection, we aren’t even born with an inclination to become an imitator of God. Genesis 8:21 says: “For the inclination of the heart of man is bad from his youth up.” Therefore, it takes earnest effort to become an imitator of God. But it’s well worth the effort, and Jehovah will help us. What blessings will we personally reap if we become an imitator of God? The greatest blessing —Jehovah will see that we are trying to be like him, and he will love us and draw close to us. Also, the more we learn about Jehovah and strive to be like him, the more we’ll love him and the closer we’ll draw to him. Cultivating godly qualities will result in improved relations with others. Imitating godly qualities will make us a better person overall. The more we’re like Jehovah, the happier we’ll be. That’s how he created us. Those are just a few of the blessings we’ll reap if we become an imitator of God. In our publications, more than 40 different qualities of Jehovah have been identified and discussed. But in this discussion, let’s examine just one. We’ll discuss the theme “Imitate Jehovah’s Generosity.” Generosity is an aspect of Jehovah’s love. Unquestionably, Jehovah God is the most generous Giver in the universe. Let’s talk about this. Eons and eons ago, Jehovah God was all alone. And even though it’s impossible for us to comprehend, he wasn’t lonely or lacking anything. But because of love, he generously chose to share the gift of life with others. He decided to become a Father, a Creator. Logically, he began by creating a Son with whom He could directly enjoy fellowship. As we know, this Son became known as the Word, as Jehovah’s Spokesman. But then, at some point in time, again, not because of loneliness or lacking anything, but because of love, He chose to further expand His family by creating millions of angelic sons who could also directly associate with Him. Then, amazingly, further down the stream of time, because of love, He again chose to expand His family. These children were a lower form of life but ones who were made in His image and whom He loved deeply. Of course, we’re talking about Adam and Eve —the original parents of all of us. If Jehovah had not created them, none of us would ever have been born. Yes, life itself is a wonderful, miraculous, and generous gift. Without this gift, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy any of Jehovah’s other marvelous blessings. Let’s now talk about Jehovah’s generosity when it comes to physical gifts. “Every good gift and every perfect present is from above.” Think for a moment about the planet we live on. Jehovah created the earth as a beautiful and unique home for us. It has all the right conditions to sustain life, including the oxygen and water cycles that continually recycle essential resources. If the earth were closer to the sun, all the water would boil off and the planet would be a barren rock. Conversely, if it were farther from the sun, the water would freeze and the planet would be like an uninhabitable iceberg. Jehovah placed the earth at the perfect location, often called the Goldilocks zone. Think, too, about the marvelous gift of our human bodies. Even in our imperfect state, as mentioned at Psalm 139:14, we are “wonderfully made.” Isn’t it brilliant how our skin is designed to heal when we cut, scrape, or bruise it? When we scratch, scrape, or dent our car, does it heal itself? Can you imagine what we would look like if every time we damaged our skin, it just stayed that way? We’d begin to look pretty rough in just a short period of time. And isn’t it amazing how the skin allows water to exit the body in the form of perspiration? But at the same time, it doesn’t allow water to enter into the body when we take a bath; otherwise, we’d become waterlogged. Ponder for a moment about how food is not only nutritious, but it’s also delicious. This makes fueling our bodies very enjoyable. Jehovah could have made eating like putting gasoline in a car —a necessary function but void of enjoyment. Think of all the tasty varieties of food. As just one example, how many varieties of grapes are there? According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, there are about 10,000 different grape varieties worldwide. Jehovah could have given us just two varieties —red and green. But why do we have some 10,000 varieties? Because of Jehovah’s voluminous generosity. But now we ask, How can we imitate Jehovah’s generosity in giving physical gifts? It’s obvious that Jehovah has put a lot of thought into his gift-giving so that his gifts are practical and beneficial. Likewise, we should prayerfully meditate so that our gifts are useful. Not all gifts are practical. One brother gave this example: A puppy might make a fine gift to a young one living in a rural setting, but it’s a terrible gift to a Bethelite. If our brother lacks food, clothing, or shelter, we don’t just say: “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed.” No, we apply Proverbs 3:27, which says: “Do not withhold good from those to whom you should give it if it is within your power to help.” In addition to helping brothers in need directly, we can indirectly help them by making donations to the worldwide work. The Governing Body prayerfully strives to use wisely these precious, dedicated funds to help our dear brothers who’ve been afflicted by natural or man-made disasters and who urgently need suitable Kingdom Halls and assistance in many other ways. Speaking of the need for Kingdom Halls, as just one example, please look at these pictures from the Philippines. Here are six before and after photographs. And what do you think was the individual average cost for these six new simplified but dignified Kingdom Halls? Twenty one thousand U.S. dollars. Please think about this: Jehovah’s physical gifts such as the rain, sunshine, and oxygen are recurring. What’s one way to imitate this aspect of Jehovah’s giving? Well, 1 Corinthians 16:2 says: “On the first day of every week, “each of you should set something aside according to his own means.” In harmony with this Scriptural principle, many have chosen to “set something aside” each month by scheduling recurring online donations. But now let’s briefly contemplate Jehovah’s spiritual gifts, which are even more impressive. Think about the Bible. Where would we be without it? Lost, hopeless, floundering. We’d have to learn by experience —“the school of hard knocks.” We’d need at least two lives to live —one to practice and the second to perform. Next, think about the holy spirit. John 14:26 describes it as a helper, teacher, and a remembrancer. It is the most powerful force in the universe, and Jehovah gives it to us generously. Consider for a moment the resurrection hope. It strengthens us in times of great distress —when death takes a loved one or when we face death ourselves. I’m reminded of the six-year-old girl who said: ‘Thank you, Jehovah, for the resurrection hope. It is a very good idea!’ For our final example, what was Jehovah’s greatest spiritual gift of generosity? The gift of his Son to purchase us from sin and death. And it wasn’t just any angel whom Jehovah sent; it was his Firstborn, his only-begotten Son. What if you were tied to a chair and forced to watch the torture and execution of your most beloved child? That would be horrible! Of course, Jehovah was not tied, but because of his great love for us, he restrained himself and allowed the torture and execution of his most precious Son. That is the ultimate example of generosity. But now we ask, How can we imitate Jehovah’s generosity in giving spiritual gifts? One way is by being generous in giving sincere commendation. If you see something good, say something good. Proverbs 15:23 says: “A word spoken at the right time —how good it is!” Words have great power. To illustrate, think of how two words from a convention chairman can lift thousands of pounds. What are they? “Please stand!” In this vein, Proverbs 18:21 says: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Just a few words at the right time can make a tremendous difference in a person’s life. They can cause a depressed one to “stand” with a positive hope for the future. Another way is to freely give out forgiveness. Colossians 3:13 reminds us that ‘Jehovah freely forgives us’ and that we “must also do the same.” The word “freely” in English means “generously” and can also mean “without charge.” Is there someone you can extend true forgiveness to in imitation of our generous God? Additionally, how about generously giving out knowledge? Do we pray for a Bible study and then work in harmony with those prayers by searching diligently for a deserving one? Do we liberally train others and share the skills we have in the ministry and in the maintenance and construction of theocratic facilities? People in general often hoard the knowledge they have in order to protect their job. But like Jehovah, we gladly share the knowledge we have with others. During our discussion, we barely scratched the surface regarding Jehovah’s generosity and how we can imitate him. We will learn forever about our great God and how we can better reflect his qualities. But in the meantime, the more we learn about him and the more closely we can imitate him, the richer, happier, and more satisfying our lives will be. And why? Because that’s how he created us.