Each one of us were created uniquely by God. We each have different personalities, different likes, different talents, different dreams, different mindsets, and so on. But I wonder how many of us are actually being our true selves verses what we have been conditioned to be from life’s experiences and worldly or other people’s expectations. We start our lives out being true to who we were created to be. As baby’s and toddlers we are true to our personalities and the way that we were wired by God. But as time goes on we become conditioned by what our parents tell us, what our peers accept and don’t accept about us, from what the world says we should be like or be doing, what is expected of us, and so on. Then there is all of the negative experiences that can cause harm to our character and cause us to form bad behaviors. By the time we become a preteen many of us will have lost aspects of our true selves.

And dare I say anything about those hormonal teenage years where we are trying to figure out who we are on top of what we have been conditioned to be. You know, that time of life where you are trying to figure out where you fit in at, what “group” will accept you. And if we find that we seem to not fit in anywhere by being ourselves we will change ourselves into what we think others will accept until we do fit in somewhere, even if it’s not where we want to fit in at. I think that this time in life is where we can get totally lost and not know who we really are at all. And sadly some of us will spend our entire lives being who we think others want us to be instead of finding our true selves.

Everyone wants to be liked and accepted. But to what expense should we pay for that acceptance. If we are not true to who we were created by God to be we will never experience real joy, freedom, and satisfaction with life. We will feel the void within ourselves. We will feel a sense of fakeness or fear that someone might find out who we really are. We may even find that we do not like ourselves very much and that’s because we aren’t being true to ourselves.

God has put certain character traits in each of us. He has placed certain values and morals in us. He has put certain likes and dislikes, certain things that energize and excite us, certain interest in each one of us. We even learn in different ways. What may be very easy and to come natural for you may be very hard for me. And none of these differences make anyone of us any better than the next person.

We were all created different for a reason. God had a plan when he created us humans. He created us to need each other and to be able to help each other and work together. He created us as relational beings. If we were perfect, could do it all, knew it all, and didn’t need any kind of assistance or help then we wouldn’t need anyone and we could go through life alone. But that is not how God wants it to be. That’s another reason why we need to be true to who we were created to be. You have no idea what you could offer someone else, how you could help others, or what a important impact you can have on others if you are not being your true self.

There are many ways that we could not be living up to who we were created to be. It could be something as simple as not voicing something that is important to us. Or it could be something as big as we are being totally different than we were created to be. Things like a hardened heart will have a major effect on us. But not being heard because you choose not to voice your opinions, concerns, likes, or dislikes can have just as much of an effect if it goes on for too long. People can become so built up with pressure from trying to be accepted or liked that they are walking time bombs with constant attitudes and anger problems. Not being true to yourself can also cause depression, anxiety, or a victim mentality. Simply put, until we become true to who we were designed to be we will never experience the life available to us because of Jesus’ death on the cross. He wants us to have life in abundance, full of peace, joy, contentment, completeness, and wholeness. All of that starts with us being happy with who we are. And that can not be so until we are being who we were created to be. It is never too late to discover your true self. If you are not living your true identity then I suggest that you start doing some soul searching right now. Figure out what brings peace and joy to your heart, what feel right when you are doing it, what have you always wanted to do, what have you been putting up with for years, who have you always felt that you were suppose to be? Ask the Holy Spirit to help you figure out who you really are and what path God has for you to walk and write those things down. Ask Him to reveal any healing that you may need, forgiveness that may need to take place, and changes that need to be made. As you figure these things out and begin to walk your path you find what you have felt has been missing and that you are finally where you belong.