Imitators of Christ
It’s 6 a.m., and I hear the soft thud of four-year-old feet hitting the ground. The bedroom door creaks, and secretive steps creep down the hallway. A brown-haired head pokes above the arm of the sofa I sit upon, and I gasp in mock surprise as my quiet time with the Lord comes to an end.
Every morning, my daughters come out of their room like this to discover my husband and me in our living room with Bibles open, journals covered in scrawled prayers, and theological books strewn around us. For us, getting up at 5 a.m. is the only way we can have an actual quiet time of prayer, worship, and reading the Word.
Thirty years ago, it was my footsteps creeping into the living room to see my Dad—leg crossed and eyes closed, Bible open on his lap. He often wouldn’t even open his eyes as I passed through to the kitchen. But he was there, day in and day out, meeting with Jesus. It left an everlasting impression.
Though my own journey with Jesus has taken me through many stages and seasons and places, morning time with God has been a constant input in my life. It was ingrained into me far before I could even tell what those hours meant or what the story of the Bible was or what prayer looked like.
Humans are great imitators. We see someone do something interesting, beautiful, funny, or provoking, and we try to recreate that thing. But because we are so impressionable and so willing to imitate that which we take in, Scripture cautions us to be thoughtful about what we choose to fix our attention upon.[1]
If we’re honest, our attention is often fixed upon people and things that don’t inspire faithful discipleship or deepen our love for Jesus. But if we put on habits and practices that help draw us closer to the Lord—reading his Word, spending time in his presence, adoring him in worship—we will inevitably begin to look more and more like him.
This is what Paul invites the Corinthian church to do when he writes to them—to watch the things he does, listen to the things he says, and go and do the same things:
I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ. (1 Corinthians 4:14-17)
Though you have countless guides, you do not have many fathers. Though we may not feel like the spiritual giant that Paul was, the principle remains: our children will have many guides, but truly parenting them in the gospel—day in and day out—is a rare and priceless opportunity. The things we do, the words we say, and the habits we hold will all shape our children. What a responsibility! But Paul doesn’t say these things to heap on shame; he writes to encourage us as God’s beloved children—whom he is deeply invested in and who he longs to see grow up into maturity in Christ.
We may feel guilty that our lives aren’t perfectly exemplary for our children. But Paul’s wasn’t either. At one point, he wasn’t a mature disciple who could tell people to imitate him as he imitated Christ. Paul “became” a spiritual father (v. 16) over time, as Jesus intervened in his life and transformed everything. When he met Jesus, he devoted his life, his time, and his mind to come in accordance with the things of God. And he was able to do this—to become someone who reflected Jesus in word and deed—because Jesus himself empowered and equipped him through his Spirit.
As we grow in imitating Jesus too, our children grow in imitating us. Like our own lives, it won’t be perfect. It will be full of mistakes and tears and fights, but the thrust of a life lived after Jesus leaves an impression. Today, take heart in knowing that your parenting doesn’t have to be perfect. We are called to a life of following and imitating Jesus before we are even called to mother our children. And our God goes with us, impressing his love upon our hearts, giving us the words of life, and maturing us into spiritual adults for the sake of his Kingdom. May that kingdom come in our very homes.
[1] Psalm 101:3; Proverbs 4:25-27; Matthew 5:29, 6:22-23; Luke 11:33-36; 2 Corinthians 4:18; 1 John 2:16
