Each of us are fearfully and wonderfully made to be the individual God wants us to be. He does not intend for us to be carbon copies of each other. He makes us to be just how we are supposed to be. Oh, and one more thing--God doesn't make mistakes or cheap knock-offs. Everything He makes is a perfect custom build.
My children, and I am sure others will agree, testify to this. I have three, and they are all different. All from the same two parents, all raised in the same home, treated the same, provided for, encouraged, and disciplined the same--and yet, each unique and special. Just as God intended.
Above is a picture of our youngest. She loves sparkles, jewelry, bright colors. She knows no strangers (scares me to death!). She laughs from the time she gets up til she finally giggles herself to sleep. She is our free spirit, our creative, our flower child. The other two--not so much. And that's just fine. No, not just fine--perfect--just as God planned.
It's not easy to be different.
Being different means standing out, taking the risk that you might be rejected, ridiculed, or even rewarded. It takes courage, confidence, and plain old chutzpah. In short, it takes guts.
The truth is, we are all different. No two of us are the same, no matter how hard we may try to be. It doesn't matter how hard you try to be like someone else, try to imitate their looks, their mannerisms, their speech. No matter what you do, you cannot be someone else. Nor should you try. God made you as you, and that is who you are supposed to be.
The world would have you believe otherwise. For all the talk of tolerance and inclusion, what the world really wants to do is erase individualism. According to the world, boys and girls--they are just the same. According to the world, individual effort is not rewarded--everyone gets a trophy. According to the world, there is no right or wrong--everyone is right (unless you disagree with that!).
It takes courage to stand up to the world.
It takes courage to be you.
The young lady in the above picture is who she is. She knows she's different from her brother and sister--she even says so--and it's not easy. She doesn't like the same things they do, she doesn't act like they do, or talk like they do, laugh like they do . . . She knows this, but she doesn't try to change. That takes courage. At 7 years old, she sometimes has more courage than I do.
I don't know what part of you you don't like--but there's something. Sure, we all have things we should change: Bad habits, sin, and the like. But there are other things, things which make us who we are, that are just fine except . . . we don't like them. They make us different. They make us stand out. They make us--us.
Don't try to change those things. Embrace them. They make you who you are, who God wants you to be. That takes courage.
Be you.
Wild, curly hair, toothy smile, infectious laugh--they make my daughter who she is. She can't sit still at the table for 2 minutes, but she can sit in her "thinking chair" on the porch for an hour, day-dreaming. That's who she is, and who she is supposed to be by God's design.
What makes you, you? Whatever it is, embrace it. Dare to be different. Dare to be who God wants you to be. You might be amazed by how perfect you really are.
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