Non-conformist part 3
Basically it's like this: You can listen to the world, and do what it tells you to do... be who it tells you to be... conform to it's image and try to "fit in." Or... you can listen to what your Daddy says about you. And for the record, here's what Daddy says about you, "And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Mark 1:11). Right? Because out of the two verses in the Bible about being conformed, one says, "be not conformed to this world" (Romans 12:2) and the other one says we were conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). And here's the key, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). What you BELIEVE is true about you is, for you, what is true about you! If you think in your heart that your a sinner, then that's what you're going to act like. You're going to run away from God because you believe He's mad at you. If you let the world bury you under all of that surface stuff, all of that "good and evil" appearance stuff... then what's deep down inside (the light of the world) will be hidden. But if you know and believe that Daddy's not mad AT you, but mad ABOUT you, then you can let your light shine. Not by trying really hard to MAKE it shine, but by believing that it's already shining. Not by trying to be someone you're not, but by being yourself. Your true self. The inner man. The hidden man of the heart. As you think in your heart, so are you. What you believe is what is true for you. What you magnify is what manifests. And if you're running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, trying to fit in to the culture of the day... then you're robbing yourself from the gift of God that you've been given. The gift of God which is eternal life. Which is knowing the Father and the One whom He sent. Knowing yourself in the context of Sonship. In the context of your true identity. When you know you were made to stand out, you'll stop trying to fit in. You'll stop trying to conform. You'll start living life the way it makes sense to you, not the say it's "supposed" to make sense to anybody else. I think one of the biggest problems we create for ourselves is when we compare ourselves (unfavorably, always) to others. It's the whole "the grass is greener on the other side" mentality. We think if we were like so and so things would be better. But they wouldn't. Because we aren't like so and so. You are you and that's the only person you can be. The only person you're SUPPOSED to be. And what works for someone else might not work for you. What works for you might not work for someone else. But if you try to conform, what you'll really end up doing is contorting yourself. Stretching yourself out of shape. Remember the square peg has to get rid of it's edges to fit in the round hole. And what are you without a little edge? Without a little personality? Without all of the you that makes you... YOU? Daddy's well pleased with YOU. With who you ARE. And who you are is enough. More than enough. Abundant! Because who you are... is love.