As a kid, the last thing you want to hear is, “You’re a copy cat!”

We all want to think we are one of a kind, an original! I have often wondered where in the world that phrase even came from anyway. I mean, have you ever known a cat who copied?! Have you even known of a finicky feline who cared enough about another human or animal to even notice them, much less, imitate them?! Cats are the most independent, “don’t tell me what to do,” “I don’t need you,” “leave me alone please,” creatures I know!

Now, monkeys? Those animals copy!  They imitate. You scratch, they scratch. You make a funny noise to them, they make it right back. They are the real copycats, but I guess ‘copymonkeys’ just doesn’t have the same ring to it!

Here’s the thing: we need to be copycats, in a sense. We don’t want to be women who live phrases like, “don’t tell me what to do, “”I don’t need you,” “Leave me alone, please.” Rather, we need to find another woman who can show us what to do, how to act and react… we do need somebody! We need to look to somebody we admire and imitate her. They pray, we pray. They respond with patience, we respond with patience. We all need to find somebody we can copy… somebody to be a hero for our hearts.

Paul urged the Christians in Corinth to “Be imitators of me as I imitate Christ.” (1 Cor. 11:1)  He wasn’t setting himself up as ‘Super Christian’ and letting everyone know that he had arrived. No, he was just saying, ‘you need to look to somebody who has walked a few steps ahead of you and follow along.’

Girl, I  have done that — I have found a few women who  have walked a few steps ahead of me and I’ve followed them; they’ve become heroes for my heart. They are women who I look to. I watch their lives and I imitate them because I see them imitating Christ. Who do you know that imitates Christ? Identify who she is and study her. Note how she and you differ and what Christ-like qualities she has that you can begin to emulate.

The purpose of finding a hero for your heart that you can copycat is not so you will become exactly like her, but so that you will become more like Christ.

Joni Earkson Tata is one of my heart’s heroes. I look to her life as she has lived it in a wheelchair and her walk with Christ has shed so much light on my walk in blindness.  When I don’t know the best reaction to a problem or what the wisest choice may be, I think, “What would Joni do?” She imitates Christ and I want to imitate her.

When I get sick and tired of having a good attitude because I am just totally done with blindness, I look to her life and her honest faith spurs me on to give it one more try. When I get discouraged, reading her words give me courage. You get the idea. I am not trying to be Joni Jr., I’m trying to be more like Jesus, and imitating Joni gets me closer to doing just that.

Who is imitating Christ that you can imitate when you don’t know what to do or how to feel? Identify her, imitate her, and eventually you will become her for someone else whose faith needs strengthening.

If you don’t have a hero for your heart, she is out there, sister! Ask God to show you who she is and then study her life.  She may be your neighbor or the woman who sits down the pew from you. She may be your Grandma or that lady who comes into the office with homemade treats. She may be a woman whose words you read or you’ve just read about. But, she is there for you — a hero for your heart.  Then you, my friend, will be that same woman to someone who is watching you.

Good stuff, right? Copycats, rise up!

In the comments below, give a shout out and tag the woman who is a hero for your heart.  It will honor her and encourage all of us.