Be Yourself part 4
Variety is the spice of life. The same thing over and over is the definition of a rut--which, I say every time, is just a grave with the ends kicked out. If all you can think of is trying to earn your bread by the sweat of your brow... if you think that's what it's all about... then you might have missed the part where Jesus said, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). There's something MORE that's available than what the world has to offer. And, in a word, its called the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of Love. Because what makes abundant life abundant? Love does! When I say, "Be yourself" what I mean is do what YOU do. And do it out of love. I've mentioned this before but my sister has a sign in her room that says, "Do small things with great love." And what I'm trying to teach my son is, "Do everything you do with great love. Do it because it's in your heart to do it." I really think that's where we get messed up a lot of the time; we do things for all the wrong reasons. We do them because we think we're "supposed to." Or we think if we do them we'll get what we want. Guys... love is never about getting. Love IS giving. And to truly love you have to give everything you have and everything you are. Because people need what you have. And people need who you are. So if you're not being yourself, you're stealing, and killing, and destroying. Maybe not--HOPEFULLY not--in a literal sense. But if you're not being yourself you're robbing people of experiencing the miracle that you are. We need each other. There are things I can do that you can't. And there are things you can do that I can't. But together... together we can do anything. Song of Solomon 5:16 describes the Beloved (Jesus) as altogher lovely. And I believe the reverse of that is also true. He is altogether lovely... and WE are lovely all together. We are all different parts of the same body. But we are all necessary. That's why the Apostle Paul went to great lengths to write about how we can't all be the same body part. Every part has a function. A calling. We are all here to do something special. And only you can do that thing the way you can do it. So if you don't... if you try to conform to the world instead of BEING transformed (into what you've already been transformed into) by the renewing of you mind... that's when "life" gets stale, and boring, and unbareable. That's when people lose the joy of living. Because what the world has to offer pales in comparision to what is available to us in the Kingdom. "Life" doesn't cut it. But abundant life... a life full of love... of being loved by God and loving each other with that same love... that's a life worth living. Forever. (Everlasting, eternal, right?) An easy way to say it is: Why are you trying to fit in when you were created to stand out? Why are you trying to be someone you're not when you were fearfully and wonderfully made? Why are you stuck in a rut when you have been set free? Free FROM sin and death, and free TO live and love!