Be Yourself!

Pressure is all around us! Pressure to perform, to "be all we can be", to be "more than we can be". Are you feeling the pressure? From work, family, friends, or even your church? There are times when God allows pressure in our lives to refine us but that is very different from what Jesus talked about...a pressure to be anything other than what God created us to be.

Consider Jesus' take on this pressure in Matthew 23:4. Very different words, indeed! “Instead of giving you God’s Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn’t think of lifting a finger to help. Lots of people will pile unreasonable expectations on us. I'm not negating our responsibilities, just the extra things in our life that pull us down mentally and physically, and spiritually.

When I think about my heroes, I have to ask, "have I put them on a pedestal?" Have I placed myself on a pedestal? Have I allowed others to put me on a pedestal? Jesus is pretty explicit about that...Don’t set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do"

With Jesus, we can be ourselves; no pretensions or facades. He sees the real us, and says, "take a load off, BE YOURSELF!" Being yourself will free you to have the most impact.