“What’s the point in trying to be who you aren’t?”

A thought by Mark Batterson from his book, Whisper: How to Hear the Voice of God (p. 78). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Are you trying to be who you aren’t?

Mark says, “American psychologist Abraham Maslow may have said it best: ‘A musician must make music, a builder must build, an artist must paint, a poet must write if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself.’  And I’d say not just ‘at peace’ but ‘at liberty.’”

Here is a great point, he says, “What’s the point in trying to be who you aren’t? If you succeed, you is who you ain’t, and you ain’t who you is. You’re actually less like the person God designed you and destined you to be. That isn’t succeeding; it’s failing. And I, for one, would rather fail at something I love than succeed at something I don’t. And it starts with deciphering our desires.”

Psalm 37:4 says, “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Mark then says, “We tend to think of desires in a negative light, but C. S. Lewis had the opposite opinion. ‘We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us.’ According to Lewis, ‘Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.’  Some desires are sinful, no doubt. And those sinful desires must be crucified. But God also wants to resurrect them, sanctify them, intensify them, and leverage them for His purposes.”

So, what do you really want to be when you grow up, and more importantly, what has God created you to be?