Be Yourself

38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.
      “I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.  –
I Sam 17:38-40

David was about to fight Goliath.  King Saul wanted to give him protection, so he gave David the traditional fighting gear and told him to wear it.  Saul wanted David to fight in the traditional way.  In essence, he wanted David to fight in a way uncommon and unfamiliar to David.  He wanted David to fit a certain mold.  All men who fight have to wear this and look like this.  Wrong.

Just as David had to fight on his own terms, so do we.  We have to use what God has given us, not what he has given someone else.  Many of us look at people in ministry and say “I have to look like that and talk like that and walk like that in order to serve God.”  Wrong.  He has given us individual skills and abilities and wants us to serve him by being genuine and authentic.

Stop trying to be someone you are not.  God wants to use the “you” he made.  We are not all supposed to play the same role and fit the same mold.

Father, thanks again for the reminder that you give us freedom to express ourselves the way that you have made us.  Thanks that I don’t have to feel 2nd rate when I see someone who is doing incredible work for you with a set of skills that I don’t have.  Thanks that you don’t expect me to be someone I am not.  Thanks for using me as I am.

[tags]serving, David, Goliath, God, Bible, Scripture[/tags]

Share with

This post has one comment

Leave a Reply

Start typing and press Enter to search