Like Father, Like Child

Photo by Samantha Sophia on Unsplash

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. -Ephesians 5:1

Children learn from their parents. They mirror physical features and mannerisms. They pick up the same speech and use the same phrases and expressions. Often you can look at a person or child and know exactly who he or she belongs to just by one glance. Their physical features may be strikingly similar, but even more, you may see them walking the same or talking the same. You could suggest that the more time one spends with someone the more they resemble that person’s character. A child who has never known his father will most likely not mimic the actions or manners of his father but will always have the physical features passed down through genetics.

We are God’s children. We already know we were made in his image giving us a resemblance to him physically. So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. -Genesis 1:27. We were made in His image, wired like Him, made to love like Him and do the things He planned for us before time began. But we were made to mirror more than just his looks. We were made to live like Him, as best we can, in all areas of life. We are told to imitate God, the way He handles life, sees things, reacts to situations and serves others, those are the things we can’t mirror unless we know Him well.

When we spend time in our bible or reading a new study are we taking the information and letting it affect our lives? Are we allowing the things we learn of God to make a difference in our daily decisions and the way we live out our problems and deal with people? The way we imitate God is by handling life the way He does, by His examples through Jesus Christ. We learn more about Him the more time we spend with Him and the more we let His wisdom and Words shape our life the better we get at imitating Him. Because we are His children, we are able to do this! Because we have access to the Holy Spirit living inside us, we can mirror our Father in Heaven!