At almost 6 years old, Lindsey has a “mini me” in just-turned-4yo Jessica. Recently, Jessica and Lindsey have become best buddies, spending almost all their time together playing and laughing. Whatever Lindsey wants is okay by Jessica, and Jessica often asks Lindsey what she thinks before adopting the opinion as her own.
Fortunately, Lindsey doesn’t mind. She seems to be as delighted with Jessica as Jessica is with her. Twenty-two months apart in age, they are close enough in interests and abilities to be fun playmates for each other.
But even more fortunate than the fact that Lindsey doesn’t mind Jessica’s attachment but instead welcomes it is the fact that Jessica has chosen a great example to pattern her life after. Lindsey is sweet, sensitive, caring, and well-behaved. She also loves God, a fact that’s obvious even at not-quite-six. If Jessica becomes like Lindsey, I will only be pleased.
The apostle Paul knew it was a good idea to have someone to pattern one’s life after. With his whole heart, he sought to be like Christ. But he also knew it’s helpful to have someone on earth to emulate. In counseling the Corinthian believers, he advised them, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” Basically Paul was saying, “If you want to know how to act right, act like me.”
Wow. I wonder if we could say that to our kids. If you want to know how to act, act just like Mommy.
Love God just like Mommy does. Speak to others—strangers or friends and family—just like Mommy does. Be compassionate like Mommy is. Be generous like Mommy. When you’re mad, act like Mommy does when she’s mad. Could we say that?
Some days, the last thing I want my kids to do is act like me. But they will act like me, whether I specifically tell them to or not. If your kids are old enough, you’ve heard your words coming from their mouth. You’ve seen your attitudes in their body language. You’ve read your emotions on their face.
They are imitating you. But whom are you imitating?
“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” That’s the key. We have to imitate Christ as much if not more so than our kids imitate us. But do we do so? Too often we don’t. We imitate Christ when it’s convenient, but when it gets difficult, or we’ve had a bad day, or our emotions are involved, we act like…well, the person Satan wants us to be. The person who doesn’t show a very good example of what God is like when we’re under stress.
I know it’s difficult. Believe me, with four young children ages 8 and under, and 37 weeks pregnant with Baby #5, I know it’s difficult to be what we should be all of the time. We’re human beings, after all. But fortunately, we have something far more than human strength available to us to make us what we should be: we have access to God’s divine power enabling us to be what we should. And in His power, we can be far more than we could ever hope to be on our own.
No, we’re not ever going to be perfect. There will be times we have to repent of our actions (or inaction) and apologize to our children, pointing them toward the only One who will truly never fail them. But if we want to be an example we can tell our children to imitate where godliness is concerned, we need to be purposeful about it. We must remember both that our children will imitate us and that godliness doesn’t happen by accident. We need to constantly fix our eyes on Jesus as our example, because only by imitating Him can we hope to provide a worthy example to our children. And we must remember to ask Him for His strength and His power to enable us to be what He wants us to be before the little eyes and hearts watching us.
“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” Your children will imitate you, Mom. Will you be purposeful in providing them if not a perfect example, at least the best example you can? Will your example point them toward life and godliness?
I pray that yours will. I pray that mine will do the same for my children.
1 Corinthians 11:1—Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
