Express Yourself

Accept No Mediocre Life: Living Beyond Labels, Libels, and Limitations
by David Foster

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Remember, you are a unique person created as an expression of the Father's love, and you have the assurance that "God's gifts and his call can never be withdrawn; he will never go back on his promises" (Rom. 11:29 TLB). You are created in His image to express the nobility of His love and goodness. You can only be the best at being you; therefore, embrace your uniqueness every day without apology. You have incredible worth for just having been born. You have worth before you think a thought, lift a finger, or earn a dime. Because of God's love, you have everything to be thankful for, but nothing to be proud of that hasn't come from Him. Robert H. Schuller cleverly noted, "Anyone can count the number of seeds in an apple, but only God can count the number of apples in a seed." Use this image as a memory device when you're tempted to doubt your worth to God.

Brennan Manning illustrates the reach of God's love with this simple story:

Four years ago in a large city in the far West, rumors spread that a certain Catholic woman was having visions of Jesus. The reports reached the archbishop. He decided to check her out. There is always a fine line between the authentic mystic and the lunatic fringe. "Is it true ma'am, that you have visions of Jesus?" asked the cleric. "Yes," the woman replied simply. "Well, the next time you have a vision, I want you to ask Jesus to tell you the sins that I confessed in my last confession." The woman was stunned. "Did I hear you right, bishop? You actually want me to ask Jesus to tell me the sins of your past?" "Exactly. Please call me if anything happens." Ten days later the woman notified her spiritual leader of a recent apparition. "Please come," she said. Within the hour the archbishop arrived. He trusted eye-to-eye contact. "You just told me on the phone that you actually had a vision of Jesus. Did you do what I asked?" "Yes, bishop, I asked Jesus to tell me the sins you confessed in your last confession." The bishop leaned forward with anticipation. His eyes narrowed. "What did Jesus say?" She took his hand and gazed deep into his eyes. "Bishop," she said, "these are his exact words: 'I can't remember.'"

Instead of holding your past sins and failures over your head, God will turn your past into a beautiful story of grace and redemption worth sharing with the world. One of the real dangers when you talk about God to other people is to sound as if you are trafficking in truths you've not experienced. It's like talking about a picture of Mona Lisa you've seen in an art book as opposed to sharing what it's like to stand in front of the actual painting in the Louvre. It is one thing to say God is faithful; it is entirely a different thing to join David in shouting, "I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread" (Ps. 37:25 NIV).

You're not one in a million; you're more like one in several billion. Embrace your uniqueness and don't apologize for it. You have unique experiences, insights, strengths, and passions. Pursue them! Cultivate what motivates your mind and makes you come alive. Pursue a noble cause. You are created an original, so you need never live a carbon copy of anyone else. Forget about who others think you are and become who you really are.

While living in East Tennessee, I heard the story of a young boy born to an unwed mother. He had a hard time growing up because everywhere he went people asked, "Who's your daddy?" Whether he was at school, in the grocery store or drugstore, people asked the same question. He started hiding at recess and lunchtime from other kids. He avoided people because the question caused shame.

When he was about twelve years old, a new preacher came to his church. He always went in late and slipped out early to avoid hearing the question, "Who's your daddy?" But one day, the new preacher said the benediction so fast, he got caught and had to walk out with the crowd. Just about the time he got to the back door, the new preacher, not knowing his past, put his hand on his shoulder and asked him, "Son, who's your daddy?" The whole church got deathly quiet. The boy could feel every eye in the church looking at him. Now everyone would finally know the answer to the question, "Who's your daddy?"

The preacher sensed the situation of the scared little boy. "Wait a minute!" he said. "I know who you are. I see the family resemblance now. You are a child of God. "He patted the boy on his shoulder and said, "Boy, you've got a great inheritance. Go and claim it. "With that, the boy smiled for the first time in a long time and walked out the door a changed person. He was never the same again. Whenever anybody asked him, "Who's your daddy?" he'd just reply, "I'm a child of God." The little boy in this story turned out to be Ben W. Hooper, who grew up to be the Republican governor of Tennessee from 1911 to 1915.Never forget you are loved, like you are, as you are. You don't have to be good to be loved, but because you are loved by God, you have the potential for greatness if you will embrace your uniqueness and express yourself.

Be yourself; never be ashamed of who you are, what you look like, how you're put together, how tall you are, how short you are, or how pudgy you are. You could take some Oreos out of your diet, but forget trying to look like those anorexic, sad-sack, Adobe Photoshop-altered people on the front of magazines who glorify image over substance, glamour over grace. Reject those facades, trust God's opinion of you, and then trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of your life by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into the flames of achievement. Heed the words of Thomas à Kempis, who said, "First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others."

Copyright © 2005 by David Foster

About the Author

Dr. David Foster is founder and senior pastor of Bellevue Community Church in Nashville, Tennessee. He is known as a true street-smart communicator who uses humor and simple illustrations to help seker find God. He and his wife live in Nashville with their three daughters.