Don't Fit In!
We go through life with so many pressures from expectations of others. Our family, friends, coworkers and acquaintances. They expect us to behave in a certain way,take some career path, marry someone they approve of and so on. We end up creating unhappiness because we are people pleasers. We can't bear the thought of losing that endorsement, friendship or promotion by standing our ground and doing what is right or what we actually want to do. Sometimes we become "ass-kissers" so to speak.
We all know the story of Daniel and his 3 friends when they were taken into captive. They refused to eat the foods that the other captives ate because of their upbringing. Yes it was an odd situation and it seemed like they thought themselves better than the others. To them, however, they were just doing what was right in the site of God and not man. Daniel 1:8 says "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank...that he might not defile himself" In the end they looked way better than the others who ate the kings food. Sometimes we know what is right, we know what is acceptable, we know what is obedience to God and yet we go on to do the opposite because of peer pressure. Our friends ill-advising us against our very own conscience and against what we know is true.
We also have people who have opinions of us or even know us but still want to label us as this or that because it is convenient for them. I mean it is easier for them to see you in a certain way. So then they put labels that say here is Jane the quirky girl or Sam the dork and so on. We accept these labels or fit in that box that they have created for us. Very soon we are who they think we are and we do what they think we should be doing. Then we go on to lose our true identity. 1 Corithians 7: 23 says "You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings" Psalm 139: 14 also says " I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;your works are wonderful,I know that full well." These verses assures as of how precious we are to God and how we are to uphold our very own individuality. We are also reminded that we are made in the image of God and should not in anyway try to fit in people's idea of who we should be. We should, however, learn to exhibit who we truly are in Christ.
