Each of Us is an Original
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” You have likely heard that proverb. It is attributed to Charles Caleb Cotton, the eccentric English collector, cleric and writer, who lived from 1780-1832. The 19th-century Irish writer Oscar Wilde expanded Cotton’s quote like this – “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.”
We are a society that imitates others. After Dorothy Hamill became the figure skating champion at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, every little girl (and many mothers) wanted the wedge haircut made so famous by her. There are innumerable Elvis impersonators all across our country, none of which sing quite like Elvis. As a young boy living in Ohio, I tried to model my baseball playing after Pete Rose. I wore his #14, crouched like him in the batter’s box, hustled around the bases, and even slid headfirst.
When I wasn’t trying to be like Pete, I pretended to be like his Big Red Machine teammate, Johnny Bench. However, no matter how much I imitated those players, I did not play baseball as well as them. Little boys often imitate their dads, and little girls, their moms, but in the end, those children need to develop their own style, become their own unique person.
When we attempt to be like others, in style or substance, we most often fail, leading to discouragement and defeat. Psalm 139:14 tells us that God has wonderfully made each of us. While we are all made in God’s image (Gen 1:27), He has also made each person in a unique way, for a unique purpose. We are not to imitate others, but rather throughout the New Testament we are called to be imitators of Jesus, of God in the flesh. (See Eph 5:1, 1 Cor 11:1, 1 Pet 2:21.)
Who are you modeling your life after? Who are you trying to copy? Are you imitating Jesus or someone else? Let me share these words from the apostle Paul. He has just spelled out what living in the Spirit looks like, in the Fruit of the Spirit verses, and he wraps us his epistle this way – “Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original” (Gal 5:25-26, MSG).
Be who God made you to be, and in doing so, strive to be like Jesus. You are an original, you are God’s masterpiece (Eph 2:10), so, find your lane, the lane He has for you, and stay in it.