“She looks just like her Mother.” “He’s a chip off the old block.” Who do you resemble and act like? Children are incredibly observant and great imitators. Are you? Have you taken on the characteristics that you see in your parent? Do you try and ‘be’ like your parent? What attitudes and behaviors do you emulate? Does it make you pleased when you overhear someone remark that you do look and act like your Father?
That question of ‘resembling’ woke me one morning and I had to look at my answer. What lessons have I been taught that I am incorporating into who I am? Am I even attempting to follow after my Father? Do I consider character and attributes, or do I not even recognize who I am becoming? We can all learn from the lesson we see in children – they try to do and be all that they see their parent doing. Since you’ve been born again, do you, I try to be like our Father?
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians: “… I urge you, imitate me.” (4:16), “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” (11:1). To emphasize a concept, ‘imitate’, more than once in the same letter should arrest our attention. In my world of definitions, ‘imitate’ is not a one and done. For me, imitate is the condition from which I can learn and understand (fill in the blank) until I am able to personalize and incorporate into my behavioral and intellectual mindset/frame of reference.
I think that part of the reason he is telling us this is that Paul knows and understands that who we are when we are saved is so contrary to the world, that we too need examples to be able to follow as we develop who we are becoming. As ‘adults’ we also need a role model. Becoming is not an instantaneous ‘condition’ but is a continual growth process. What we always need to remember is that ‘growth’ is our decision and requires our attention and commitment. We can never forget that we are in the world but we are also no longer of the world – there is a difference.
You do, you will reflect what you see, hear, understand. That’s why it is so important to be intentional about who you are becoming. Hebrews 6:12 cautions us, “…that you do not become sluggish but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” I believe the lesson is that we can learn to reflect and become an imitator of Christ in the world we live in.
