Be Yourself

Do not get so wrapped up in trying to please others that you end up loosing yourself, and God in the process. As teenagers or even young adults, especially, we tend to try and make everything we do impress others. We make all our actions with the intent of getting praise or acceptance from others. However, when we do that we tend to loose our relationship with God because when we try to please others and get praise from others we forget that our praise should be pointed towards on person, and that is the Lord. 

Now I am not saying that we cannot compliment others or encourage others in any way because that is what we should do. I am just saying that whether or not we are being praised we tend to forget to praise the Lord ourselves. If you have ever been forgotten about you know how much that hurts. I imagine that when we forget about God it must hurt a thousand times more to Him because when we forget about Him  we are not just forgetting about any other person, we are forgetting about our answers. We are forgetting about our hope, we are forgetting about anything and everything that could ever help us with our lives, and He knows that even when we do not. That is why it hurts Him so much.

We think that when we come to church we do not do this. That we leave all those behaviors, but that is not true. I am not talking about things like cracking jokes that you got from someone else so that you look funny because that is just human behavior. I am saying that even when we are in a church service, even when we are sitting in the sanctuary or youth room, we try to impress others, and leave God out. I am talking about when we are worshipping and someone raises their hand, and it is not because they feel they should or that they are reaching out to God but because they saw someone else do it. They think that they saw someone else do it so that must be what they have to do, and if they raise their hand they must be a good Christian, and if that is true everyone will smile upon them, except God. 

Now I am not accusing anyone of this. If anything I will accuse myself. I have done this before. I use to do it all the time when I first started going to church. I thought that is what you had to do. You had to do the same things that everyone else was doing or you were not a good Christian. That is what I believed. I was wrong.

In the book of Matthew verse 6:5 it says, "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full."

He is basically saying that when you pray do not pray for the praise of others. Do not pray so that others smile upon you. Do not praise the Lord for any other reason then the fact that you feel you need to. For if you praise the Lord for any other reason, are you really praising Him? Or are you just saying words that have no meaning? Matthew is also saying that those who get trapped in that way of thinking, those who praise to get praise from others have all ready gotten their reward because the Lord sees through all lies, and He asks for genuine praise. 

Now I do not want you to see this as a reason to point fingers at others. That is not what this is for. Do not turn this into that. Use this as a guide for yourself. I could not find the verse, but in the book of Matthew He says that we should not call others out for their sings. That is not our job. The Bible says that instead if we see something wrong we should simply pray. Pray for them. 

I want you to take this and come away with the feeling that you should be yourself. Whether in praise or in your social life. In terms of praising, get out there and praise. If you feel you should praise the Lord, do it! No matter where you are or what you are doing. The way I see it, this is God's world. So why should we be afraid to do things for Him? We are not the weird ones. 

To all of you teenagers and high schoolers, get involved! Go throw the word of the Lord around school. Better yet, do it quietly, that is the best way for the word of the Lord to seep into someone's life, quietly and slowly. Go to a Sunday Service. Be a part of the drama team or worship team at your church. If anything just believe that you guys are powerful. If you ever doubt that, if you ever have doubt in the power of the fact that you can effect someone, do not. I am an example of the power within the youth in this world. I am a great example of the power within the youth at my church. They effected me. 

If a year ago you told me that I would be saved, or baptized, or trying, even a little to share the word of the Lord with my family, I would call you crazy. Yet here I am. Despite all that, speaking to anyone about God, singing in worship about God, which says something about me because I cannot sing to save my life. I mean all of that has to mean something. I am living proof of the power my youth group has, and the power and youth has. The power to change things. And I say that that power should be used. 

So to all you teenagers reading this forget about your fears. Forget about what others might say or do. Honestly, you are only in high school for four years, and before you know it, you will be out of there. So whatever they do or say is temporary. And when you move on with your life the words you left behind, the words of the Lord, will stay with them forever. Trust me. I know. I still remember people talking to me about the Lord even when I was a toddler. They planted seeds in my life the same way you can plant seeds in other people's lives. You never know who you can, and all ready have saved. That is the beauty in this world that is so hard to see. Sometimes some of our greatest accomplishments are never seen by us. Think about it this way. If you save one person. That one person is now going to speak about the Lord, and they are going to do it in a way no one can understand. I promise you the Christians that are formed late in life are SO willing to be a vessel of the Lord because their passion's fire burns from the fuel of knowing what life is like without the Lord, and not wanting to EVER go back. So that one person that you saved goes on and saves three people. Then those three people save three people, and now thirteen people are saved because of you. Twelve of which you probably never even met. So do not be afraid for this life is temporary, but life with the Lord is ETERNAL.





Like what you read? Check out my other blog "There's a Tide in the Affairs of  Men *College*" !