When we were children, all of us had a hero in our lives. This wasn’t just a normal person, but someone that we looked up to and strove to be like. As people get older, their heroes change, and our perception of what it means to have a hero also changes. This process isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but there's a reason why we're consistently looking for someone in our lives to mimic.
Many people often elevate fathers, mothers, grandparents, etc. to this high level of position in their lives, but that person will never be capable of being the ultimate example. As we get older and understand more, we see our heroes fall and make mistakes, and we either stick with them or move on to the next hero in our lives.
None of us are perfect, and because of this, we all make mistakes. But what we don’t realize is that we're the examples for the kids in our lives that watch us daily. As I said, this isn’t inherently bad, but it creates a problem in the way our society grows up. We're expecting those who are most vulnerable to influence to look at a broken image of what they should be. We are not the example they are supposed to be following.
The hero in my life as a child was my older brother. As far back as I can remember, I've been told that I look, act, and sound like my brother David. For those of you who know us both, you probably won’t be surprised when I tell you many people see us hanging out and think we're twins, despite the eight year age gap. I idolized him as a child, and focused all my attention on trying to be like him. He was a great role model in my mind: strong, talented, he worked hard for the things he had, and treated his girlfriend (who is now his wife) with respect and dignity. He was who I wanted to grow up to be.
David set a great example for me, and I would not be where I am today without him. He's now my boss, and I work hard with him every day, and I get to spend so much time with him and his family. Even as a father, he's still a great role model, but I've realized something. He isn’t the person I should be striving to be like. He's a great man, but he has his flaws, some of which I have adopted. The best thing that he taught me was that I needed to find a hero that wasn’t fallen and had no mistakes.
At the start of Creation, God made mankind in His image. We were made with a desire to mimic someone greater then us. We are all made to be followers. It’s in our hearts. Christ came, and through His sacrifice we have new life, and in that new life, we have to realize that we've been given a Hero. Not the heroes of our fallen people, but the Hero that came as the image of the unseen God (Colossians 1:15), a Hero that gave his life for our salvation, a Hero who was and is the best example for who we should strive to be.
If you fix your eyes on our true Hero, then all those children who watch your every move will one day realize that you have been following someone all along. They will turn and follow the one that made you the person you are. The Hero in your life is waiting for you to follow in the footsteps He left for you. Just as we were created in the image of God, we have a Hero to follow to be more like Him, to be more like Christ.
