The prase "be yourself" has always bothered me. I see where it's coming from--don't morph into a personality that isn't yours to fit in with the crowd--but really, I think "be yourself" can be some pretty dangerous advice when interpreted the wrong way.
First off, we're sinners. Born sinful into a sinful world, naturally inclined to do wicked things. This idea clashes a bit with the secular view of "You're wonderful," "You're a rock star," "You deserve all the happiness in the world" etc... But in truth, we are naturally utterly wretched human beings with a desire to do evil. Why would we want to be that?
Second, "be yourself" causes us to look at ourselves and wonder, "who am I?" This sort of thinking leads to a vision of not who I am, but closer to who I want to be. We aren't good at objectively looking at ourselves and correctly evaluating our personalities. And really, saying "be yourself" makes people try to be who they want to be, not who they actually are.
Rather, we should be Christ-followers. We should seek to glorify Him in everything we do. If we focus on the Savior and act more like Him, then our natural personalities will shine through without us having to think about it.
Don't be yourself. Be more like Christ.
This is something I've been thinking on a lot lately as well. Everything I've been hearing, mostly in songs, lately has bothered me. All about how we are perfect, how we shouldn't let others tell us what to do. I had a friend who believed all this and it only has made things worse for her.
ReplyDeleteWe should be grounded in God and His word. The world will only trick us.