Don't trade in your authenticity for approval...
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." Ephesians 2:10
I, like so many others, have heard that when we finally accomplish a dream or a desire that,
"You could be the next..."
You can fill in that blank. Over time as this has been spoken over our lives, we have unknowingly and subconsciously placed our-self under this "umbrella" of standards that we must amount to for us to feel successful.
I, myself, have been under this "umbrella" of standards majority of my life. It wasn't anything anyone did or didn't do. It is rooted from not allowing God to give me His authentic vision and purpose for my life. So, in-turn, I have tried every morally right thing out to find my purpose. Telling myself,
"If you do what this person does or be more like this person, then that will be where your fulfillment in life will be found."
Boy oh boy, was I wrong! You see, it is when we search for the authenticity for ourselves in what someone else has accomplished is when we try to meet a success that was never meant to be ours, because God has a personal and oh-so- beautiful and authentic plan JUST FOR US. JUST FOR YOU. As you read in Ephesians 2:10, Paul talks of our plan and our purpose being God's workmanship.
Workmanship, is defined as something that is crafted with care in every intricate detail. As a beloved son and daughter that means God not only made you as an original physical being but the plan and purpose for your life authentic.
Think of it this way, imagine you see someone building something out of wood. There are layers, upon layers or like us, we have seasons upon seasons of life and beauty that unfolds with every chipping away. Until, eventually, you see a somewhat of the finished product, there is then still painting, or staining of the wood that goes toward finishing the beautiful art. It is the same with our plan and our purpose.
I have learned time and time again that, there is no way I'll ever be the next anyone because I wasn't created to be them, or walk through what they have walked through, to get to where they are.
So, I challenge you today to step out from under the umbrella and search your heart. I promise you, God will reveal to you originality like no other, authenticity like you have never seen and a fulfillment that could never amount to anything you could have imagined.
