Do you know that despite the repeated encouragement to “be yourself”, it is one of the hardest things to do even as Christians? Being different takes more determination and maturity than most people are willing to offer. Fitting in or trying to impress and be accepted by others is easier, even when it makes you lose God’s focus for you and leaves you unfulfilled.

In our society, validation from others seems to be the oxygen without which we cannot survive. We desperately need it to gain admission into cliques or to feel good about ourselves. Ironically, this same validation we so desperately seek can become carbon monoxide which kills our uniqueness and prevents us from being our true selves. Validation has become a graveyard for individuality. 

Fear of rejection

Society has programmed us to conform and do what everyone else is doing and if we attempt to do things differently, we encounter harsh criticism and rejection from our contemporaries. This negative feedback then pushes us to second-guess our motives, making us wonder what is wrong with us for trying to be different. No one enjoys rejection, so when offered a choice between ‘conform or be rejected’, it is understandable why conformity comes out the winner. Afterall, validation is the new oxygen. What this shows us is that we do things for other people instead of being true to who God calls us to be. 

Consequences

When you pattern your life, your ministry, your purpose, and passions according to another person’s dictates and not according to how you believe God would have you do, there are repercussions. If nothing else, it truncates what God has for you, it limits your potential and uniqueness, and it makes you a people-pleaser who will never mature into what God had in store for you. 

I believe an excellent medication for spiritual and mental health would be for Christians to develop an attitude of ‘I don’t care what anyone thinks of me and my life, ministry, or my career’, unless it is explicitly against the word of God.

Christians Should be Promoters of Diversity

Christians should be the one group of people most accepting of individual differences; after all, the Bible doesn’t expect uniformity. God’s word makes us understand that we are individual parts of a body, with each organ playing its unique role to get the body functioning properly. Therefore, as different as each organ is from another yet working together, so too should children of God.

Conclusion

In whatever field, industry, or sector you find yourself, embrace who God says you are, aim for what he wants you to be, and please him alone. Give out your best at whatever stage, aim at excellence, and never stop learning to become a better version of yourself.

Belong, not by seeking to conform to another person’s standards but by finding your unique place and contributing your unique individuality to make up the beauty of diversity.

Let no one guilt-trip you into being who you are not supposed to be. Your only confines should be God’s word and his unique direction for your life. That’s what it means to be authentically different, an organ that plays its unique part for the smooth functioning of the entire body.

May God bless you with the strength to rise up to the person he calls you to be.

Thank you and God Bless

~AkuBai

About AkuBai

AkuBai is an award-winning gospel artist and ordained minister of the gospel. Her vision is to impact humanity and touch souls through music. Read more articles at www.akubai.com/blog | Connect on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter @AkubaiOfficial