Imitation
Dr. Rikki Permenter
Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
1 Corinthians 11:1
Just to keep you updated, our sweet & little Hudson James is one and a half years old. She is so much fun. One and a half is such a fun age. Lately, she has been mimicking things she sees. She has twin cousins who are a year old that she loves to play with. She saw one of them doing something she knew they shouldn’t and she yelled “No ma'am!” across the room. This is something she has experienced numerous times in her life. She responded just like I would respond to her. I’ve caught her pretending to wash her own hair in the bath. I’ve caught her biting her fingernails - a really bad habit she has seen her Daddy do. When she takes a sip of a drink she throws her head back and gives a loud “ahhhhh” - another funny thing she’s seen her Daddy do. She wants to use her own fork and spoon, sit in a big girl chair, and use a straw - all things she sees us doing every day. She loves to imitate us.
In his letter to Corinth, Paul urges them to imitate him as he imitates Christ. I’ve tried to be very aware that my sweet little girl watches me and imitates random things I do. Am I living in a manner I want her to imitate? Paul was not only living a life worth imitating but he urged others to imitate him as he imitated Christ. Is this a claim I can make to my child, my family, my friends, my co-workers, and even my acquaintances?
You can’t imitate someone you don’t know. Paul was confident he knew Christ in such a way that others could imitate Christ by following him. My child mimics the things she sees. She spends large amounts of time with me and then does things the way she sees me do them. She learns me through my actions. Do my actions mimic Christ? Do your actions mimic Christ? Take some time this month to evaluate if the people you spend your time with can imitate you as you imitate Christ.
This article can be found in print in the monthly Baptist Association of Southeast Louisiana newsletter.
