Tool Beta
Is It Actually in the Bible?
Phrases people quote as Scripture. The real verse, or the honest answer that there is not one.
"Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children": sounds like a call to simply trail behind God or be one of his fans
"Followers" in the KJV translates the Greek for "imitators": actively copying God's character, not just tagging along.
Ephesians 5:1, in every translation this tool compares.
Ephesians 5:1 says, "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children." The Greek word is mimetai, the root of our word "mimic," meaning someone who actively copies or reproduces another's pattern of life, not a passive follower or fan trailing behind. Paul uses the same word elsewhere to tell believers to imitate Christ and imitate faithful church leaders.
The modern sense of "follower" (someone who trails after, watches, or subscribes to another, as in "social media followers") is far more passive than what the verse asks for: consciously modeling your own conduct (kindness, forgiveness, love) on God's, the way a child mimics a parent.
