‘Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, and develops well-formed maturity in you.’ Romans 12:2 MSG
For the longest time ever, I remember how uncomfortable I was with my voice. I was teased for having a deep and hoarse voice even as a young girl. Everywhere I looked, from the cartoons I watched to my own friends’ none of them sounded anything like me. My own mother’s voice also sounded softer and more “female-like”, as was portrayed on TV.
This all changed when I discovered what God had called me to be. At that moment, God gave me this illustration. Crockery is designed for a specific purpose. Even similar those categorized the same, such as cups still have a specific to them. Imagine a teacup trying to do the work of a water glass or jug. It will do the work but it will not be as effective. It will take twice or three times as much to achieve the same result.
That right there made me realize that it’s okay to be weird. It’s okay for the world to call me unusual because that was evidence that I was who God had created me to be. The grace that comes with me being weird removes the labor in my calling. My perspective of self changed when I found Jesus. As I grew discovered how much of an insult it was to God to try and fit in. Trying to sound and look like some famous person doesn’t work for God.
God took His time to create you for a purpose. He created you to stand out, period. As the Apostle Paul admonished the church in Rome, they should not conform to the world’s standards. God is saying to you and me, it’s okay to be weird. Not that He made us weird, but the world’s template of who we are and what we ought to be is faulty and contradicts God’s standard. God is saying you are perfect exactly as He has created you.
Every one of us has been uniquely created specifically for the purpose God has called us to. Your voice, your height, your weight, your color, your appearance, your IQ, or EQ is not just a function of genetic disposition, it’s supernatural wiring to express God to the world. Do not be afraid to be you. You do not need to be another shade of yourself to fulfill the assignment in your life.
Prayer on identity
Dear God, deliver me from a warped perception of self and teach me who you say I am. I thank you for the revelation that I am not what the world says I am, and it’s okay to be weird. I walk in the steps of Jesus Christ who is the image of my life and purpose on earth. Thank you for the reassurance of my worth in being perfectly suited for what you have called me to be. As I fix my attention on you Lord, thank you that I am changed from the inside out.
Teach me, Lord, to readily recognize what you want from me, and to quickly respond to it. Thank you Lord for bringing out the best in me, and developing well-formed maturity in you. I pray all this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
