Don't be a copy - be the real thing

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"Don't copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."  Romans 12:2. New Living Translation

Human behaviour at times, tends to lean heavily on copying trends, dress styles and habits. To a degree, this is okay. It is good to be fashionable and up to date with what is going on in the world. As kids, we have our heroes, and these may follow us into adult life where we may find ourselves copying some of their characteristics. We all do this. Some of us are pop stars, singing into a hairbrush in front of the mirror. Some of us train and play sport like our hero. Others, copy the dress and hair style of the particular person who we are following. This is all normal. However, in all of this, eventually we need to find ourselves. We need to find our own  identity and do our own thing. If we don't, we stand the risk of being a person who is going nowhere. We need to be ourselves, and allow God to use us as He finds fit.

Jesus didn't copy. He had His mandate from the Father and He set out to fulfil this. He was not a follower. He was a leader! There are leaders and followers in life and that is okay. If we were all leaders, we would have no followers behind us, and if we were all followers, we would be like sheep without a shepherd. It would be total chaos.

Are you a leader or a follower? Deep down within the heart of a leader, is the burning desire that they have been placed here to make a difference. However, to most people it won't happen overnight. There needs to be a period of 'proving', where it becomes obvious to people that there is some potential in this person. In other words, if you have leadership gifting, it will be noticed by people. The book of Proverbs mentions this:

'A man's gift makes room for him , and brings him before great men.'  Proverbs 18:16

A person who is searching for leadership though, must be a person who has found themselves and know where they're going. One cannot copy someone else's leadership. A leader can have a mentor, that is fine. However, at the end of the day, they need to be their own person and not a carbon copy of someone else. God created just one of us, not several copies.

As I mentioned, are you feeling that you are a potential leader, whether it be in the Christian field or the secular? Don't rush things. Dependent on your age you can seek counsel about this with your pastor or work leader. Training will almost certainly be required plus a time of testing the waters. There may have to be a time where you sit on the subs bench for quite a while before you're set free to have a go. Be patient, because as the Proverbs scripture above says, eventually you will come to someone's attention. You will be noticed. Until then, spend time with Jesus and talk to Him about all of this. He's pretty good at offering expert advice about such things. He also has the key to open all doors.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard 

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com