Did you ever get called a copycat?
Usually there’s a negative connotation attached to it. Hearing someone repeat your words as you speak can be so annoying – although the repeater thinks it’s awfully funny! Mimicking an authority’s facial expressions during a reprimand is an invitation for extra punishment. Sometimes copycat behavior reveals character traits or actions that we need to address within ourselves.
However, other ways of copying someone send a positive message. We like to see good manners transferred from adult to child. Mimicking a parent’s daily chores shows children learning responsibility. There is a breath of fresh air when acts of kindness are copied by the recipients.
A copycat is someone who mimics or takes on the behaviors or practices of another person. We imitate others for a variety of reasons. We might admire them and want to adopt some of their traits. Maybe we want to feel accepted and so we fill in the gaps of our confidence with what we like in others. Sometimes we become copycats without even realizing it. Our frequent proximity to another person can cause us to subconsciously adopt their behaviors. A sweet display of this might be seen in couples who have been married for a long time.
What if our love for Jesus drew us to him and inspired us to mimic him? What if we were so invested in our relationship with Jesus that we copied his mindset and behavior?
Sincerely following Jesus should lead us to be copycats of his love for and obedience to God the Father.
Striving to live like Jesus opens up a treasure box of what it means to serve God. Our own ideas may not align with his absolute truth. We need to seek God to learn what it means to love him. It’s not enough to just pray each day. We need to be sure what we are hearing is from God, not ideas that come into our minds. God’s written Word gives us truth and he gives us wisdom for understanding. It is good to pursue insights from godly, studied believers, but getting truth straight from the source is valuable.
Speaking of value, do you ever catch yourself saying God is so important to you and yet you only have time to pray, not read and learn from the Bible? Though it’s humbling to admit, that describes only a one-sided relationship – which doesn’t convey true value of the other member, God.
Do you know God as being creative, enough, jealous, loving, powerful, and excellent? Among others, these traits of God can help us learn who we are in him. In fact, working through the Heart Training book Follow and Lead gives you the opportunity to memorize verses related to God’s character, read biblical accounts that showcase God’s character, and read verses that help you learn who you can be because of who God is.
Jesus came to us as the exact imprint of God’s nature. We are to be imitators of Jesus.
Let’s exercise our faith and strive to live out 1 John 2:5b-6: “This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus lived” (NIV).