So who's idea was this that we should fit in somehow? That we should go around looking for somewhere to belong? Going from place to place looking for people who are of our kind, people who are like us, or at least close enough for us to feel like we are accepted among them.
Do we try to gain the approval from them, to get some sort of gold star sticker? Or if we find we are still a bit odd, how do we ever find our place? Maybe we have gone enough places to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we will never be like others. That we can do everything right and still not feel like we are where we fit into this society, so governed by the opinions of others. We judge our insides by the outsides of others. Thinking somehow if we could just be a little more...
Or quite the opposite, we know we will never be good enough. We know we make a lot of mistakes. We hold a belief that maybe all we are is a mistake. We accept the condemnation of what feels like rejection, and we limit our own thinking based on what we have heard. The responses of others to our failures. Failure becomes the new normal, and we quit trying to be more than we begin to perceive ourselves as.
What now are we doomed to live our lives in either world? Either constantly striving for the approval of others, or being limited to be the failure- the forever black sheep. NO!
What would life really be like if we really didn't care what others thought, what they say about us, or how they respond to us at all? If our entire focus was to remain on what the One who created us has to say. If we could live in reckless abandon, speaking of the truth of who we really are- people would find us to definitely not be normal. People would think we were completely crazy. As we live out loud the love and joy and immeasurable grace that so profoundly has saved us from ourselves. What would people think if we gave no authority to our circumstances, but found gratitude in all things? How would the world respond to us if we spoke boldly of God's unlimited power, of the life changing kinship He offers. If we stood in the light right now, of what had seemed like a far off destiny. If we truly lived what we claim to believe, and truly claimed that God's promises were for us- not just everyone else, but that all was for us. What if we lived like we believe that God is who He says He is, and is completely unchangeable? What if we lived like believed that we are who He says we are? Treasured over all creation, with all authority, already victorious, already adopted, already fully accepted-right where we are. If we fully grasped the meaning of knowing that nothing we can do can make Him love us more and nothing can make Him love us less.
This would be complete freedom. Free from striving to be good enough, because He rescued us from the law of striving to make the mark. Free from all insult, putdown, snide remark, or any form of condemnation, because He is the One who sets our value. How then does anyone else's opinion compare? Fully loved, fully accepted, even fully known- no more wondering how others would feel if they really knew who we were. Because He does know every intimate detail of us, and still absolutely adores us.
Would life be different? Would people think we were completely out of our mind? Would people think we're weird? Abnormal, odd, crazy, bizarre... yeah probably. Would we make others uncomfortable? Yep. Have we ever been called to be part of this world? We live here, but this is not our permanent residence.
I was not created to be like any one else, I was created in the image of my Creator. If my desire is to live out His will, it will always seem a bit off. I will never be normal, always be somewhat crazy. And today I'm ok with weird. I know some other people who are crazy too but my life is not about being like them, maybe just more like the One in them that makes them strange too.
Do we try to gain the approval from them, to get some sort of gold star sticker? Or if we find we are still a bit odd, how do we ever find our place? Maybe we have gone enough places to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we will never be like others. That we can do everything right and still not feel like we are where we fit into this society, so governed by the opinions of others. We judge our insides by the outsides of others. Thinking somehow if we could just be a little more...
Or quite the opposite, we know we will never be good enough. We know we make a lot of mistakes. We hold a belief that maybe all we are is a mistake. We accept the condemnation of what feels like rejection, and we limit our own thinking based on what we have heard. The responses of others to our failures. Failure becomes the new normal, and we quit trying to be more than we begin to perceive ourselves as.
What now are we doomed to live our lives in either world? Either constantly striving for the approval of others, or being limited to be the failure- the forever black sheep. NO!
What would life really be like if we really didn't care what others thought, what they say about us, or how they respond to us at all? If our entire focus was to remain on what the One who created us has to say. If we could live in reckless abandon, speaking of the truth of who we really are- people would find us to definitely not be normal. People would think we were completely crazy. As we live out loud the love and joy and immeasurable grace that so profoundly has saved us from ourselves. What would people think if we gave no authority to our circumstances, but found gratitude in all things? How would the world respond to us if we spoke boldly of God's unlimited power, of the life changing kinship He offers. If we stood in the light right now, of what had seemed like a far off destiny. If we truly lived what we claim to believe, and truly claimed that God's promises were for us- not just everyone else, but that all was for us. What if we lived like we believe that God is who He says He is, and is completely unchangeable? What if we lived like believed that we are who He says we are? Treasured over all creation, with all authority, already victorious, already adopted, already fully accepted-right where we are. If we fully grasped the meaning of knowing that nothing we can do can make Him love us more and nothing can make Him love us less.
This would be complete freedom. Free from striving to be good enough, because He rescued us from the law of striving to make the mark. Free from all insult, putdown, snide remark, or any form of condemnation, because He is the One who sets our value. How then does anyone else's opinion compare? Fully loved, fully accepted, even fully known- no more wondering how others would feel if they really knew who we were. Because He does know every intimate detail of us, and still absolutely adores us.
Would life be different? Would people think we were completely out of our mind? Would people think we're weird? Abnormal, odd, crazy, bizarre... yeah probably. Would we make others uncomfortable? Yep. Have we ever been called to be part of this world? We live here, but this is not our permanent residence.
I was not created to be like any one else, I was created in the image of my Creator. If my desire is to live out His will, it will always seem a bit off. I will never be normal, always be somewhat crazy. And today I'm ok with weird. I know some other people who are crazy too but my life is not about being like them, maybe just more like the One in them that makes them strange too.