The apple doesn’t fall far . . .

When I was younger I went into a Chinese takeaway shop in Whangarei to order some dinner. I made my order and then the shop keeper looked at me and said, full accent and all, “You Tommy’s boy?” I had no idea what he meant at the time so did the full on nod and shake of the head at the same time resulting in my head moving in a circular motion at least twice hahaha.

Now this was before I was completely and fully saved . . .

I walked out of there with more food than I had ordered; I got the special treatment because the shop keeper thought I was “Tommy’s boy”.

Some say that many Asians look alike . . . well it would appear so!

As a member of my family, I have unique characteristics that seem to flow in my family. I’m sure you do too. How you eat, how you speak, little habits or postures or movements, even down to smells, tastes, likes and dislikes.

Here’s a truth - we become like those we associate with. We become like those we hang around with.

For children, much of their time is spent in and around their family so they develop characteristics that their family have.

For teens, they tend to start taking on the characteristics of their peers groups as they spend more and more time with their friends - therefore, be wise in who you allow your teens to hang around with. Yes, parents, you still get to control that and rightly so.

The same applies to adults although we pretend that it is not the case . . . but it is true.

We become like those we hang around with.

Now, God is love*.

He’s our Dad.

Are you getting where I’m going with this . . .

We are supposed to reflect and resemble our Dad.

Love is to be a key hallmark and characteristic of who we are as His children.

So what is love? It is patient. It is kind. It seeks out the benefit of others. Read more about it in 1 Corinthians 13.

If you are flowing in love and these characteristics, then way to smash it out!

If not, then I encourage you to spend more time with your heavenly Father. I can guarantee that you’ll end up flowing more in love because . . .

You become like those you hang around with.

* 1 John 4:7; John 3:16; Romans 5:8