how to influence the world by being yourself

There’s a quote that says the following:

You’ll never influence the world by trying to be like it.

I think sayings like that can be severely brushed over, but isn’t that a temptation for all of us? That we listen to the world and try to pretend we can be just like everybody else and we will fit in, be happy, and everything will be okay?

I’ll tell you what, that has been one of the BIGGEST struggles of my life, especially growing up in school!

As a middle schooler, all you want is to fit in. You want to have friends, be liked, and have everybody think you’re pretty. You put the “popular girls” up on this stage because they have what you want, but is it really all it’s cracked up to be?

In high school, sports are everything. The popular people are the football stars, the lacrosse players, and sometimes even the swimmers. They are viewed as “extra-talented” and everyone wants to be like them. But what about the pressures they’re under? Just because you’re popular doesn’t mean your invincible to critiquing.

My point in all this is those people (regardless of what they do) are following what the world is telling them to do. The world presents us with a checklist, and if we can mark off all the boxes, we get a gold star. If not, ridicule follows. But when you get to adulthood, what does that really mean?

When I graduated college, I got a rude awakening when I entered the workforce. I had been interning for years and had worked multiple jobs, but it was nothing compared to what I experienced when I turned 23. The expectations never end, the checklists are updated, and you’re thrown to the wolves.

Doesn’t this sound like a MAJOR discouragement? Doesn’t it sound like it’s impossible to find peace and settle down?

Friends, that’s because it IS! We can never please the world because it’s ever-changing, and we can never find peace and joy from something finite because by definition, peace and joy aren’t finite themselves. Our cavity that calls to be filled can only be filled by Christ (Psalms 42), so why are we trying so hard?

This week, start thinking about how you can distinguish yourself. Push away from the pressures from the rest of the world and recognize that it’s totally okay to be yourself! You are not responsible for how others’ react to what you’re doing; therefore live in the freedom that God made you, your talents, your ambitions, and your interests exactly the way it was meant to be.