36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Paul’s uses can be divided into three groups: (1) To call attention to a comparison even when no conscious mimicking is in mind. The Thessalonians shared suffering at the hands of their compatriots comparable to that experienced by the earliest Judean Christians (1 Thess. 2:14). First Thessalonians 1:6 perhaps belongs here. (2) To follow an example (Phil. 3:17; 2 Thess. 3:7, 9 where Paul’s example of self-support is in view). Obedience may also be in mind as references to tradition (2 Thess. 3:6) and command (3:10) demonstrate. (3) An equivalent to “be obedient.” Paul exhorted the Corinthians to follow him not primarily by following his personal example but by following his “ways in Christ” which he taught “everywhere in every church” (1 Cor. 4:16–17). The Corinthians were to follow Paul’s example by heeding his counsel to do all for the glory of God without causing offense (1 Cor. 11:1; cp. 10:23–33). In Eph. 5:1 the command to be imitators is again linked with the previous series of commands, especially that of forgiveness (4:25–32). The image of children obedient to parents is common where the thought of imitation as obedience is primary (1 Cor. 4:14–16; Eph. 5:1).