{"id":629,"date":"2013-05-02T00:00:58","date_gmt":"2013-05-02T05:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.twocities.org\/?p=629"},"modified":"2013-05-01T22:38:06","modified_gmt":"2013-05-02T03:38:06","slug":"being-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/?p=629","title":{"rendered":"BEING YOURSELF…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Or as my friend Lindsey says, “The Glorious Person You Don’t Have to Be.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/em>Lindsey may be correct about the international acclaim stuff (see her guest post below), but I would not bet against her!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here then are Lindsey’s wise and life-giving words:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Who is the person you don’t have to be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

For me, I always believed that my destiny was to be an internationally acclaimed speaker and writer. This delusion likely dates back to the first time I was ever complimented on my writing. Certainly it pre-dates my junior year in high school. By then, the idea was firmly entrenched, along with the conviction that I was already behind.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A hard truth hit me a few days ago, but it was followed by a flood of relief. The truth was this: God may not want me to be an international anything. If that is the case, I should not torture myself by viewing every popular speaker and every successful writer as a potential ‘me.’ Perhaps it is okay to be one of the ‘masses’ and just absorb (instead of dream).<\/strong><\/p>\n

I shudder when I think of the last time I read a good book separated from any concept of marketing or success. Or the last time I viewed a magnificent state building without figuring out how I could get a back-stage pass. Or how often I have blamed God for withholding my destiny.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But what is <\/i>my destiny? As a believer in Christ, it is already written out for me in plain Greek: “I have died, and my life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ–who is my life– is revealed, I too will be revealed in glory.” That’s from the third chapter of the book of Colossians. So when is my glory coming? Not in this life. Rather, I must put all my eggs in the basket of the afterlife. If I am to believe the Bible at all, I have to believe that my real glory will not be revealed\u00a0after <\/i>I die. In fact, it will not be made known until the end of days. \u00a0By then, I will also have the wisdom not to care about it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That truth is a relief to me. \u00a0Since I am incapable of bringing about any glory other than a) false and selfish glory or b) the glory produced by obedience, I am not in any way responsible for glorifying myself. \u00a0I am grateful for that, and not only because I’ve been making such a hash of the job. \u00a0You should be grateful, too: self-aggrandizement is never pretty to watch.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Is there a glory that you are seeking and not finding? Perhaps it is the glory of being a parent when parenthood has been denied you. Perhaps it is the glory of a job worthy of your education when all you can manage is stacking shelves at a library. Perhaps it is the glory of a lifelong relationship.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is the glory that will finally allow you to hold your head high?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chances are, you have not answered that you want to glory in your weakness, or in the cross of Christ, or in suffering. Heaven knows that I have never answered like that. I want my glory to be in how Christ has accomplished marvelous and noteworthy things through the skills and interests he has given me. I want my glory to be in strength, not in weakness.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But that is not the biblical way. I don’t know how exactly I can glory in weakness over strength, but I do know one thing: I am free from planning my own path of glory. Nor do I have to make myself a celebrity. \u00a0God forbid that I should do so.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I want to finish with a quote from Thomas Aquinas. In speaking about vainglory, he asserts that<\/strong><\/p>\n

“It is requisite for man’s perfection that he should know himself; but not that he should be known by others.” Summa Theologica<\/i>, Question 132, Article 1<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The world does not have to know or glorify you. It is far better that you know yourself through the eyes of God.<\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.lindseyscholl.com\/2013\/04\/the-glorious-person-you-dont-have-to-be.html<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Or as my friend Lindsey says, “The Glorious Person You Don’t Have to Be.” Lindsey may be correct about the international acclaim stuff (see her guest post below), but I would not bet against her! Here then are Lindsey’s wise and life-giving words: Who is the person you don’t have to be? For me, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,9,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ambition","category-spiritual-life","category-writing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=629"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":631,"href":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629\/revisions\/631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.twocities.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}