Are you selling yourself short? As Christians, we are held to a higher standard than the world and anytime we compromise those values for any reasons we are not living up to what God has called us to be.
There have been many times where I know I sold myself short. I can recall times where I wanted to be accepted by others and because of that allowed myself to get caught up in gossip, backbiting, mistreating others, disliking someone just because someone else did. All the pettiness that women participate in to mask their own insecurities and ultimately was not being true to me. Then, there were those times when I was ostracized because I was different. I didn't have the confidence to stand up to those who were doing the very things to others that I had went home many days crying about, sometimes even from church. But, thank God for the Word that convicted my heart to show me that I was not being the person God called me to be, even if sometimes it meant doing what was unpopular.
The Bible tells us in Romans 12:2, "Be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." What does this say to me? It says that it's not okay to sell yourself short in the name of acceptance. Stand true to the Word of God and the change that God has made and is continuing to make in your life. Everybody has a sphere of influence. The question is are you using that influence in a positive or negative way? Now you might say that you aren't concerned with what other people think. My response to that is "Are you concerned with what God thinks?" What is the purpose of continuing to go to church Sunday after Sunday but not allowing the Word to have any lasting effect in your life that is evident in all you do? What is the purpose of your ministry, your business? Is it just popularity or better finances? When do you finally make the decision that life as you have known it just isn't good enough? When will you submit completely to God and allow Him to change your life and bless everything connected to you? You are blaming everything and everybody and not looking in the mirror of God’s Word. Sometimes God allows the stagnation, suffering, sickness in order to transform your life. He does it to center you. He does it to remind you He is all you need. All it takes is one breath from God. All of us need the mercy of God and His gracious hand in all we do. I don't even want to think about where I would be without it. A true desire to change your life should be your response to the overwhelming outpouring of God's grace. Realizing that you will never be perfect but that you are in the process of being perfected.
Allow the Word of God to change your life. True transformation comes from true surrender. And with that transformation comes an abundance of blessings. It is a painful, but necessary, reality to discover you are the only one holding back God's blessings for your life.
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