Free To Be Yourself
Have you ever been to the zoo and watched the caged animals? If so, you can see that even though these animals have been rescued from death, they are still not free to be themselves. It is said that injured lions mostly die not from their injuries but from the pain of being unable to do what they do best. We are much like the lion in that respect. We have been set free so that we can truly become the person we were created to be and when we are not that person, we die inside. Proverbs 13:12 says, hope deferred makes the heartsick. Could this be one of the main reasons we see so much mental illness today, because people are jailed in sin and a total lack of purpose?
“Are you free?” is the question you have to ask yourself. If you are free, you are going to be comfortable in your own skin. Paul said, “I am who I am.” Paul understood his gifts, developed them, and expanded them because he was free. His freedom allowed him to reach his potential. In Romans 12, Paul helps us identify the differing gifts each of us have been given; he then tells us not to compare ourselves with each other (II Cor. 10:12). If you are trying to emulate someone else, you are not free. You can learn from others, but you are unique. It is your uniqueness that makes you who you are. You must not to focus on yourself but look to the grace that sets you free. Grace is about taking the mundane and ordinary and transforming it into the special and extraordinary. Grace does not focus on our insufficiency but on the all-sufficiency of the cross and the freedom of being found in Him.
It was William Shakespeare who said, “God has given you one face, and you make yourself another?” You may not realize it, but not being yourself is actually a subtle form of hypocrisy. I have a great desire to see the church break out of the box. We should be the most unique, creative people on the face of the earth. I don’t think people hide from their true uniqueness on purpose, but we have been bound so long it is hard to break free. We become many times a lot like the prisoner who has been so institutionalized that they can’t imagine living free. Let’s look at three main areas that bind up people from being free:
- Traditionalism: Jesus talked about allowing traditions to keep us from the will of God.
- High Mindedness: Paul said that when we think more of ourselves than we should, we miss our true calling. We have to accurately assess our gifts, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses.
- Limited Thinking: When we limit our thinking, we keep ourselves bound to the ideas that have shaped our thinking and kept us from His purpose.
Refuse to allow anyone or anything to keep you from fulfilling your purpose in this life. Break out of the cage that has kept you from being you.
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That is good Darren! It is like not living life, but letting life live you. Good word.
Great post. It’s something I still struggle with but also something God has really shown me over the last year. I was thinking one day how we are created in God’s image. I was struggling to find my place with God. I knew He had called me to minister but I just wasn’t sure how. As I was thinking about being created in His image and each one of us was formed by God in the womb the thought hit me, “We are each a unique expression of who God is.” He designed us, engineered us. He didn’t haphazardly throw us together.
It’s so freeing to not feel like I have to act a certain way to minister. I can really be myself because God actually wanted me the way that I am.
Again, great post.
Matt thanks. Keep pressing on. Let me know if I can help in anyway. Darren
I liked this one alot. Not sure why it took me so long to discover your blog, but I am happy I did. mind if I use some of your thoughts for quotes?
Hope you can always use anything I write. As one friend once said ‘none of us have original thoughts’. Darren
“hope deferred makes the heartsick” I am a mom and spiritual director and I have journeyed with moms who feel just that way, heartsick, because their hope has been deferred. Many of these moms have been raised in families that do not have a healthy understanding of how God views women, or how women should view themselves.
Often their hope has been deferred because they feel, as you put it, trapped by these attitudes. They see themselves only as mother, not longer as person, woman, wife, daughter of God.
When they come to me together we walk in faith and hope that they can begin to see how everyday God is present. Together we walk in faith and hope that they can begin to release the limiting thoughts that hold them back, those “tapes” in their head that play out dated ideas of their true worth and talent.
Together we walk in faith and hope that they can come to terms with their own woundedness and seek forgiveness in reconciliation.
These moms are wounded but need not be, no woman need to be, for God loves us all and wants us to be free of those things that limit us.
Patty unhealthy relationships are one of the main things that keeps many people trapped in the past. It takes time to renew healthy thought patterns and I have found even longer to have healthy emotions. Even though our emotions are tied to our thought patterns they bring out a deeper gut reaction and easily supersede rational thought. I applaud your journey with this community of women and pray that your lives become examples of the freedom and stability that can only truly be found in Christ. I appreciate you sharing. Darren