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Releasing Me
By Sherri Fulmer Moorer
Have you ever had one of those days
when you feel like a loser? I am talking about days when it
seems that no matter how hard you try nothing is good enough. I
think we all know days when we look in the mirror and feel like
we are staring at a failure. In a society that demands so much
out of us, its easy to get frustrated and wonder if it is
possible to unlock any potential out of your limited resources.
We live in a cruel world that holds
up an illusion of perfection that can never be attained.
Everywhere you turn; there we are see standards set to show how
close we are to approaching that illusion. Television, movies,
magazines, and books offer advice on how to build strong
marriages, families, friendships, finances, and careers. They
tell us how to dress, how to act, and how we should look in
order to be considered “beautiful.” They offer nuggets of wisdom
on how to climb the corporate ladder, make more money, stay in
shape, and do more for the people in our lives. Advertising is
extremely effective in selling us the “American Dream” and
telling us what we want and how to get it. The problem is, all
of this self-help fails to achieve the goal of giving you true
peace and happiness. It tells you how to be successful in the
eyes of a materialistic society, but it never addresses how to
be the person God made you to be. I find it ironic that as much
as you hear about “finding yourself,” you are encouraged to be
everybody but yourself. This advice is for finding
yourself through society's expectations of you, not for finding
yourself through Christ.
God did not create us to serve the
world, but to serve Him. God told Jeremiah “Before I formed you
in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated
you” (Jeremiah 1:5)[i],
and this applies to each and every one of us. Each individual is
a unique creation of God, made to serve a specific purpose in
the world. You are who you are and where you are for a reason –
because the Lord put you there to serve Him. Although we have
free choice in how to live, believers make this choice based on
the prompting of the Holy Spirit within us. Unfortunately, the
world does not value things of the Heavenly kingdom, and the
devil will keep using the world to pull you away from that
purpose. We will always hear messages of how happiness comes
through money, power and fame, but that is success with an empty
soul. Satan is using this lie to keep people bound by greed,
jealousy, anxiety, hypocrisy, and hate. Christians know this is
a trap to draw people away from the power of Christ’s salvation.
True happiness comes through being your authentic self and
serving the Lord.
It’s no wonder we feel worthless
when you think about the messages we get through the media.
Everywhere you look, there are beautiful models with perfect
figures, graceful actors that always save the day, millionaire
CEO’s with spotless mansions, and creative musicians that never
miss a beat. We see perfection, and taking in these images
corrupts our sense of reality. If you think about it
realistically, you realize that these images are polished. The
models have personal trainers, the pictures are digitally
corrected, actors work off a script, the mansions have a
cleaning staff, and the musicians have deleted all the
recordings with mistakes. It’s called editing, and it is done to
excess to keep us running after the impossible. It’ s no wonder
we feel bad about ourselves when we take in all of this
perfection and forget the reality behind it. The sooner you
remember that we are imperfect people living in an imperfect
world, the better you will feel.
Real life doesn’t have designers,
make-up artists, scripts, unlimited finances, hired help, or a
delete button. We live in the real, imperfect world where all of
us have occasional bad hair days, worn off make-up, cluttered
homes, broken down car, burned meals, and those awkward
situations where we are at a loss for what to say or do. Real
life is a bit rough around the edges, and that’s what makes it
so interesting. Sometimes the best times are the unexpected
surprises.
My favorite Bible verse is
Phillipians 3:13-14, which I think of as a guide to true living:
“but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining
forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the
prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” The key to
successful living is not making more money or becoming more
powerful, but keeping your eyes on the goal, which is Christ. Be
true to yourself and everything else will fall into place. The
people that really love you aren’t concerned with your looks,
financial situation, or housekeeping skills, but with how much
you care about them. We are real people living in a real world
for a real God, and part of living is accepting the rough edges.
So please, release yourself from the unrealistic expectations of
this world. Stop trying to be perfect in the eyes of the world
and start being yourself through Christ. When you start to feel
that you don’t measure up, ask yourself this question: “what
does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love
kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)
I am not against the media at all;
in fact, I believe it offers wonderful entertainment and allows
people in that business to share their God-given gifts.
Sometimes, though, I have to turn it off to regain my
perspective. Taking time out releases me from the expectations
of the world’s illusions and allows me to be the person I am
through Christ. Be thankful for the blessings you have, and
leave those images of perfection to the professionals, and let
God run your show. There’s nothing wrong with taking time out to
regain your perspective on reality. Don’t worry; it will still
be there when you come back. In entertainment as much as real
life, the story never ends.
All Bible quotes from The
Bible – Revised Standard Version.
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article is copyrighted by the author. All Rights Reserved. No part
of this article may be reprinted without permission of the author.
©Copyright 2003
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