Last night I was catching up on some Joyce Meyer “Enjoying Everyday Life” episodes. She was teaching on the importance of being ourselves and how we should stop trying to be like our neighbors.  Some of us are crafty, can grow a garden, can make clothes while some of us demonstrate power, can be heard above others, and our looks are pleasing to others. 

Joyce said that when we try to be like others, that is like insulting God.  My oh my, how I have insulted God over and over.  My insecurities have driven me to not appreciate myself and what God created.  I’m have found myself striving to make improvements and wishing I had qualities like those surrounding me.

Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”  We were created for greatness just as Jeremiah was.  But we cannot be great if we are constantly trying to escape ourselves. 

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others”. ~Marianne Williamson, (commonly misattributed to Nelson Mandela, 1994 inauguration speech).

So I ask you, are you shining bright into the world, manifesting God’s glory or constantly trying to escape yourself?