Replace Lies With God’s Words
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is -- his good, pleasing and perfect will. -- Romans 12:2
What are you not doing today because someone said you couldn’t do it? What are you doing today because of past labels that turned you into who they wanted you to be?
We are the products of our own desires, yes, but also we are influenced and directed by the many opinions of those around us. Someone decides while we are young that we are brainy or athletic or not too bright. And so we become because someone older and “wiser” said we were.
By the time we’re old enough to have dreams and aspirations for ourselves, the past labels are ingrained in us and those around us. So we follow the predicable path. We let others tell us how to live our lives. We quash our dreams in favor of more “realistic” goals, which is just another word for what others want us to do.
Where is God in all this? Is He in the labels others have pinned on us? Is He in favor of following the path others laid out for us? And do we even bother to ask God what He wants us to do with our lives?
Somehow it just seems easier to go along to get along, as the old cliché goes. But if God gave us a desire for something more, something different, something else than where we’ve been, then who are we to take a different path? And who are those around us to think that they know better than God?
It gets back to each of us having unique and special gifts that we are intended to use for God’s glory. No two people are exactly alike, including my identical twin cousins who were as different as they were similar. God has touched the heart of each of us, drawing us down a path of His choosing.
So how do we fight the expectations of others? How do we withstand the criticisms and putdowns that come when you select a different course? By renewing your mind so that God’s Words replace the criticisms and judgments of those around you.
Easy? Not even close. Psychologists call it “cognitive therapy.” We are called to confront the lies of our past and replace them with God’s truth. When we turn away from the world’s hold on our lives, God lights a path that clearly reflects His will for our lives.
Stop limiting yourself to the expectations of others. Your Heavenly Father created everything and He will help you do anything He calls you to do. What has He called you to do? Follow Him and let yourself soar to unimaginable heights.
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