BEING GRATEFUL AND ENJOYING HOW UNIQUELY GOD HAS MADE ME

BIBLE PASSAGE:
So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; 
and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. 
(Galatians 4:7)

MEDITATION:
The scriptures tell us that we are “no longer a slave”, 
but too often we make ourselves slaves, 
because we fail to accept the fact that God made us unique.
As a result, we become slaves of trying to be like someone else.
God did not create us to strive to be someone we are not.
We are His handiwork and He had plans for us before we were even created.
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, 
which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

Whenever we try to be like someone else, 
we lose focus of why we were created.
We should be trying to be what God wants us to be 
and not become like someone else.
As long as we are striving to be like someone else, we will fail 
in developing and utilizing our own special unique characteristics.

Even worse, we can live in a frustrated state 
of trying to be someone we were not made to be.
And as our frustrations grow, 
we can develop a disdain for the person we are trying to mimic.

It’s a paradox isn’t it?
We still want to be like them, 
but we don’t like them as much as we did originally.
For some reason, we seem to think our life will be better 
if we can be like someone else, but as much as we try, 
it’s not going to happen, because God didn’t make us like them.

He made each of us unique, with exclusive qualities and personalities 
which should not be ignored or rejected, but embellished and enjoyed.
Happiness comes from being who God made us to be, 
and not through trying to be like someone else.

It may seem to us that someone else is better looking, smarter, 
has a charismatic personality, has some special talents or abilities, etc.
But if the truth were known, 
they may want to have some of our characteristics, but they hide them 
from us in the same manner that we try to hide our desires to be like them.
Some “popular” people would still like to have a lot of friends, 
but would prefer to become a little less popular.

Satan loves it when he can distract us
from how we were uniquely made my God.
If he can make us forget 
that we are special in the eyes of God, then he wins.
And when he wins, we continue with our efforts to be like someone else, 
which develops some bad (and non-Christian) characteristics in us
such as envy, jealousy, greed, anger, etc.

ACTION:
Maybe God’s devotional for today is meant especially for you.
Have you been lured into Satan’s trap of trying to be like someone else?
Remember, God doesn’t make “junk”, 
which means you are unique and special in your own skin.
For everything God created is good, and nothing 
is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, (1 Timothy 4:4)

Rather than trying to become someone else, be grateful for your uniqueness,
and strive to become the person God designed, and wants you to be.
and to put on the new self, created to be like God 
in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:24)

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for how You have created me. 
Forgive me if I have appeared to be dissatisfied with how You 
have created me and have wasted precious time trying to be 
someone else. Help me to embrace the way You have created 
me, and to remember that everything from You is good, including 
me. Teach me to focus more on living righteous and holy, so I can 
start enjoying how You made me with special qualities and 
characteristics. Show me how to use my uniqueness to serve 
You and point others to Your Son, Jesus.”

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