Be Yourself!

Ever read someone’s entry on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and it made you question where you are in life or made you a little insecure?  I have.  Questions and insecurities arise when we compare our life to those of others. We consider how they are farther ahead than we are or that they passed hurdles we face or they’ve accomplished something significant and it makes us wonder if we are good enough.

The answer is “Yes.” Last week, we realized that God chose us for a specific purpose and plan (Eph 12:4).  Today, I want to encourage you to accept that God wants us to be ourselves.  Not the self we create in our desire to be liked or appreciated by people nor the fake self who hides the real parts of themselves to prevent being hurt.  When we hear we are fearfully and wonderfully made, what does that mean to us?  Are we thinking human beings are fearfully and wonderfully made? Or, we, individually and personally, are fearfully and wonderfully made?  

When God created us for His purpose and plan, He gave each of us specific gifts and abilities to utilize (Rom 12:6).  Yes, He expects us to develop them to the fullest, but no two of us are created identically….even identical twins. Each one of us is unique and special – not better than anyone else – just different.  Because we are different, each person one of us has a specific role to play that is best played by us.  No two people are the exact same combinations of traits and abilities.  

God wants us to use those capabilities He put on the inside of us to proclaim the Gospel wherever we go.  In order to do this we have to be honest about who we are and recognize we can’t define ourselves – God does because He made us (1 Cor 12:6).  I recently read a devotional about being yourself and I’ll paraphrase – Be the best “You,” you can be.  The world needs what God created you to do.  Don’t try to be anyone else – yes, we can learn from others, but the only one we should imitate is Jesus.  Even Paul instructed the Christ followers in Corinth to follow his example, as he followed the example of Christ (1 Cor 11:1).    We can only be truly ourselves when we are tied to the Creator and understand (and accept) what He says about us.  Who are you trying to be?