You Take Yourself Too Seriously
Photo: Colorado, 2023.
That's what the Lord told me this week. And I bet you do too. You probably find your validation and worth solely in your performance at work or school, maybe at home with your family or spouse. Your image is important to you. You want to be liked, maybe even loved. You want to succeed. You're trying to create your identity. The world says you're worthless if you don't contribute.
But guess what? You're valuable, regardless of what you do. Tomorrow, you could discover the cure for cancer, or you could sit on your butt all day watching the new Netflix series. Your value wouldn't change.
Wanting to be liked is not a bad thing. However, it can destroy us if that's our focus. You need to claim the identity God has for you. You don't need to create it.
I have been trying to get this reality into my head. I as a person, an image bearer of the almighty God, have value because of who I am, not because of what I do or what people think of me. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are God's workmanship, created for good works. Not that I might be God's workmanship if I do good works. That I am his workmanship, created for things I haven't done. Wow.
Psalm 139 talks about the depth of God's knowledge about us. The first several verses talks about how God knows what we're going to do before we do. Verse 14 says:
"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well."
God knew about all of the evil I was going to do, how I wasn't going to measure up, millennia before I was born. Yet, Jesus died for me. The same is true about you.
Photo: Multnomah Falls, Oregon, 2023.
One of the greatest ways you can honor God is living in line with how he designed you to be. Not only will this be easiest because you can drop the facade, but it will also bring you the most joy. The toys in Toy Story are happiest when they're being played with because that's what they were designed to be. Water follows the path of least resistance. Living within how God designed you is that path.
If you know me, you can pretty easily gauge how comfortable I am around you. Am I pretty stoic and passive? You are probably someone I just met. Am I a goofball and always trying to be funny? You are probably a dear friend. I'm starting to realize that God created me to be the latter, but I tend to be the former because I lack the confidence in who I am to let it out around people I don't know. I'm taking myself too seriously.
Instead of caring about how people view me, I need to just be me, following Jesus. If people have a problem with it, then they need to figure that out. Worrying about what others think is exhausting, so just stop it.
Be you. Be who God created you to be, living in relationship with him and claim the identity he has already bestowed upon you. You're pretty great. Let it out.