Be Yourself
Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}
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- S: He went on to tell a story to the guests around the table. Noticing how each had tried to elbow into the place of honor, he said, "When someone invites you to dinner, don't take the place of honor. Somebody more important than you might have been invited by the host. Then he'll come and call out in front of everybody, 'You're in the wrong place. The place of honor belongs to this man.' Red-faced, you'll have to make your way to the very last table, the only place left. "When you're invited to dinner, go and sit at the last place. Then when the host comes he may very well say, 'Friend, come up to the front.' That will give the dinner guests something to talk about! What I'm saying is, If you walk around with your nose in the air, you're going to end up flat on your face. But if you're content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself." Luke 14:7-11 [MSG]
- O: We reap greater rewards from just being ourselves than from trying to please everyone else.
- A: The world today is full of pretense. So many people are so busy trying to be someone else -- to please everyone and be something they really aren't -- that we often know people (or know of people) long before we actually really know them. Often this can actually be true in the closest of relationships, like marriage. Imagine not knowing some of your spouse's deepest secrets because he/she has always tried to please you and make you happy, even to the extent of never letting you really get to know them. Wouldn't it be so much better to really get to know someone -- the good and the bad -- than to be misled by their pretense? Whether it be family, friends, casual work acquaintances, or the politicians we elect to serve and represent us -- give me the real thing. We are so much more likely to pleased with ourselves and with others if we can all just be ourselves.
- P: Father, help me to be the me that You want me to be -- to rise above pretense and let the real me shine through.
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