Axioms…from my perspective

i dedicate thursdays to giving some of my personal life axioms…truth that, from my perspective, is self-evident. sometimes practical. sometimes philosophical. sometimes whimsical. but truth, no less.

“be comfortable with the way god made you…don’t try to be someone you’re not”

our society constantly tries to paint pictures of what we need to be…how we should look, what we should wear, what we should drink to be seen as cool, the kind of things we should do to have fun, the behaviors that rich, famous, or popular people do to maintain their social status, the kind of job we have to have to feel good about ourselves, the amount of money we have to make to feel successful, the style of car or house we have to own to prove our worth in the eyes of others.

none of that matters.  worth, value and self-esteem come only from living our lives the way god has designed us to live.

i hate to admit this, but i spent a lot of years of my life trying to be something that i wasn’t.  i can remember when i was about sixteen and there was this really cool older guy that came into my “circle”.  i admired the things he did…the way he looked…the talents he had…the way others treated him.  in my eyes, he was everything i wasn’t…and everything i wanted to be.  it began an elusive chase that i spent many, many years of my life expending energy on.

there’s a line between being everything i can be…and being content with the way god made me.  one is about growing and developing and changing and maturing and reaching potential.  the other is a never-ending journey to a dead end.  and we’ve got to learn the difference!

the older i’ve gotten, the more comfortable i’ve grown in my own skin.  there are corners of my life that i can confidently say are uniquely me.  i see my upbringing stamped on me.  i see my father’s imprint.  i have character and personality and ways of looking at things that are simply part of who i am.

more than anything else, i can see the grace and wisdom of an omnipotent god who is still at work in my being.

this is one coin that definitely has two sides.  i’ll write about the other side next week.

#grace #selfimage #worth