Your Personality Is Not Your Own
Okay now, get ready… because I may be about to ruffle some feathers.
Or maybe you’ll flow right with me on this… we’ll see how it goes.
Your personality is not your own. And I know it really feels like it is because it feels like a defining factor in describing who you are as a person.
Now, I know that when I add—“God’s workmanship,” after saying it’s “not your own” can come off as, it’s not you, it’s how God MADE you…. But no, that’s not at all the direction I am going with this, so let’s talk about it.
He Made You. He Gets to Say “Who You Are.”
If you think about it… have you ever seen someone have a complete personality change? Maybe they became a Christian & they just didn’t act the same anymore afterwards? Maybe they just grew up? Matured?
Our personality, from my observation, is usually built up over time & it can change or shift over time as you mature.
It’s sometimes built on necessity… saving face or trying to not get picked on or look like you stand out too much… or maybe you WANT to stand out. It’s defense mechanisms & how we learn to fit in & find our place in the world around us.
Now, I don’t deny that there are probably certain things you may be more prone to lean towards because of how God wired you… but we need to be careful not to cling to “our personality” so much that we deny God access to change anything about it that may not particularly please or honor Him.
(You can read more about that in a previous post: “What Do Star Signs, Enneagrams, & Mental Disorder Labels Have in Common?”)
Because, when it all comes down to it… HE made you… so HE gets to say what “your personality” is. We can’t use “it’s just the way we are” as an excuse, basically, versus being willing to be changed from the inside out.
Using It as an Excuse Not to Grow
I see this type of excuse when I hear women say, “God says to be meek & mild, but He just didn’t wire me that way,” followed by a shrug.
But, if God says it… then He knows it IS indeed possible… which means that when we say stuff like that, we’re honestly just excusing the OPPOSITE of what God calls us to while also blaming it on Him.
God made you. You are (under all you have grown up used to) the way He made you. Everything else is subject to change.
Don’t limit God based on what you feel are your own limitations. He made you & He can change you. So, let Him.
God’s Workmanship & Shaping to His Likeness
And when you feel up against a dead-end because of “how you are” clashes with how He says you ought to be… well, be willing to say to Him in prayer: “God, this is not at all natural to me, but according to Your Word (the Bible), it’s what honors You most, so I want this to BECOME natural to me. Please change me to better honor & please Your will, LORD. Change the ME I believe to be, to the me YOU created me to be. AMEN.”
Shine HOPE by always staying moldable… allowing Him to shape you into HIS likeness, versus clinging to the “you” with which you feel most comfortable.
Coming Next Week
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Vintage Vines Oven Mitt Set (INDIA)
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