Paternity TestSample

Imitate Your Father

You have reached the end of this “paternity test.” You have seen the call to examine yourself, the marks of a life without Christ and with Christ, the rescue of custody, and the embrace of adoption. So what now? God wants you to know that you have eternal life if you believe in Jesus Christ (1 John 5:11–13) and to live as a beloved child.

Have you noticed how children tend to imitate their parents? Gestures, quirks, even their manner of speaking. Science speaks of “mirror neurons,” cells that help us reproduce what we closely observe. The amazing thing is that this also happens in adoptive families. It’s not just genetics; in fact, the more time they spend together, the more they begin to actually resemble one another.

We are called to be imitators of God, as beloved children (Ephesians 5:1–2). We were created in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26–27); that image wasn’t lost, but sin distorted it. In Christ, the Father adopts us and begins to renew that image. He conforms us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29) and clothes us with the new self that “is being renewed according to the image of its Creator” (Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 4:24). And how does that transformation happen in us? By beholding Him and walking with Him (2 Corinthians 3:18). Staying close to our Father restructures our spiritual DNA. It reorders what we love, corrects our habits, aligns our desires and priorities, until His character becomes a natural reflection in us.

Keep in mind two actions that sustain God’s children: thinking and practicing.

Think: fill your mind with what is true, just, and lovely. Let the Word shape your thoughts each day.

Practice: be a doer of the Word. Take small steps today. Forgive, make restitution, serve, close a door to sin, and open another to reconciliation. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it needs to be persistent. And when you stumble, come back home. I promise you that the Father hasn’t changed the lock.