Non-conformist part 4
I think the hardest part about not conforming to the world is ignoring what everybody else thinks. Because as soon as you start to go your own way--as soon as you start to follow your heart--people will tell you you're going the "wrong way." But here's a memory verse you can cling to: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:1). And just to reiterate, following your heart and walking after the Spirit... are the same thing! Walking by faith and not by sight is letting the Spirit lead you. And those that are led by the Spirit are the Son(s) of God. Because that's where the Spirit leads--He is the Spirit of truth and He leads and guides us into all truth. Into the truth that Daddy loves us. Into the truth of our true identity, the Father's beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. Those who are led by the Spirit are the Son(s) of God because those who are led by the Spirit are those who know and believe that the Father loves them. And when we have that kind of affirmation... when we know and believe that Daddy loves us and He's got our back... how could there be any condemnation? The condemnation never comes from Daddy. He is well pleased with us. The condemnation comes from the accuser. From the world. From ourselves. I'm absolutely convinced that the worst kind of condemnation is self-condemnation. Because we think we know ourselves the best. Because we're there for every awful, shameful thing we do. We see ourselves at our worst. (We also see ourselves at our best, but we seem to have the uncanny ability to ignore those instances. The bad always seems to outweigh the good. But here's the point: We aren't supposed to judge by appearance at all. Good OR evil. We're supposed to judge righteous judgment. We're supposed to see ourselves--and each other--the way Daddy sees us.) I'm telling you, the most frustrating thing in this world is when you're trying to do something you're not called to do. And I'm not talking about God streching you, because He will stretch you. He has big plans for you. I'm talking about when you try to be somebody you're not. When you try to "fit in." When you try to do what society tells you you're "supposed" to do. That's so frustrating because you just plain can't do it. You can't do something you weren't called to do. You can't be somebody you're not. And when you try and fail... guess what: that's where a lot of the condemnation comes from. That's when we get down on ourselves. But we keep trying to fit in. We keep trying to make that square peg fit into that round hole. But even if we do knock the edges off, it never really fits. It never feels RIGHT. I think people are so miserable so much of the time because they spend their lives trying to conform instead of spending their lives... living! It's like this: If you work for a living, why do you kill yourself working? Why do you spend your 3 T's (Time, Talent, Treasure) on things that can never make you truly happy? You struggle to scrape by, to build your own little kingdom, when the abundance of THE Kingdom--the Kingdom of Love--is available to you if you would walk after the Spirit and not the flesh! If you would stop trying to be someone you're not and just be who you are. Just let Jesus be who HE is in you, and through you, and as you!