I love how God speaks through different people at different times. Below is a post I re-blogged that I would encourage all of you to read. Most helpful.
It helped to line up some thoughts, which have been floating around my brain about living in an imperfect world. I know all too well that I am imperfect. I have so many faults it is over whelming sometimes and I spend a lot of energy trying to change who I am and who God created me to be in order to meet some standard or another. To that alter I have, at one time or another, sacrificed my peace of mind, my true feelings, my health, or calling because some person was being very spiritual (or I was) and told me that it was right.
Now, in no way am I saying you get to do what you want. You are still bound by God’s word and law. But He is the standard and He created you to be who you are. We live in a culture that wants us to conform to a very small and general standard. God will send you counselors and you should listen to them but that doesn’t mean you get to jump off a cliff. Think things through before you do them (this is coming from someone who has huge amounts of experience not thinking things through) and consider how this advice, if followed, will affect your heart.
God created me with a very dynamic personality. While “Sunshine” or “Bubbles” are my most frequent nickname there are some people who find me less than sunny or bubbly. Overbearing and pushy are also words I hear and it hurts me when people tell me that because I do try hard to help and not hurt. But I must take criticism with an open heart and ear for generally it is spoken out of love…at least I choose to believe that it is. I need to learn how to take dominion over all aspects of my personality and nature, which God gave me…not to change it into something that it was not meant to be.
By cultivating our faults as well as our good points we learn to embrace the person God made us to be. Also, perhaps your “faults” are blessings as well as curses. I can think of many times as a nurse where being overbearing and pushy has saved a life. There is a time and a place for everything. The answer lies in knowing how to temper it. It also comes in understanding the major parts of our personality are not going to change in a moment. Learning to take dominion over my body and personality will take my entire life. Some things will come more quickly than others and some definitely take longer…much longer.
So, peeps, embrace who you are but have an ear open and the humility available to hear when people correct you…even if it is not done in a loving manner. Always be ready to repent and seek forgiveness. Always be willing to go to a brother when they have hurt your feelings because you do not want hurts to linger. It is bad for your soul. We have much more important things in front of us than holding on to every wrong that has ever been done to us…particularly within the body of Christ.
Embrace whom God made you to be. Live fully. Know that God created you just how He wanted you. Your personality is His gift to you because He loves diversity. Don’t be afraid to be honest with yourself and other people. But know that God loves you for who you are. Not matter how much you torture yourself you cannot earn salvation. It was a gift in the first place…that was the whole point after all.
Take dominion…don’t run away and change who you were created to be by a Father who loves you more than you will ever know.
Unconventional Womanhood 