You’re the Only YOU That Exists: Walking in Your God Given Individuality

"Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one"—Eleanor Roosevelt

"Never follow the crowd"--Bernard M. Baruch

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”-- Ralph Waldo Emerson, 19th century Transcendental philosopher

“If a man does not keep pace with his companion, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.”-- Henry David Thoreau

“Envy is ignorance. Imitation is suicide.”--Ralph Waldo Emerson, 19th century Transcendental philosopher

“Never Forget! The higher we soar the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly.”--Friedrich Nietzsche, 19th century German philosopher

God, parents, heroes, mentors, leaders, and influential people in our lives are important. The good influences give us a visible and tangible example of being the best that we can be. In perspective, we have all gleaned some area(s) of our lifestyle from someone we have watched or admired from near or afar. But what about you? Ask yourself the rhetorical question, “Who am I, and what am I doing here?” If you read my article called “You Were Created for a Godly Purpose” then you already know why you are here. If you haven’t read the article, then please do so. But let’s see if we can find out more about YOU and what you are all about.

“A nice definition of an awakened person: a person who no longer marches to the drums of society, a person who dances to the tune of the music that springs up from within.”-- Anthony de Mello, 20th century Jesuit priest


Thoughts to consider about individuality:

Your DNA and genetic make-up cannot be found in another human being, dead or alive. Although, gene types may be prevalent in one race or family, no two people have the exact same DNA; not even identical twins. The same is true for your fingerprints.

God Knows how many hairs are on your head (Luke 12:7)

You are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)

God gave you specific, strengths, talents and gifts.

You were born alone, even if you are a twin.

You will die alone, even though you may die with others, it is always reported that a certain number of individuals died. For example, approximately 3,000 people died on 9/11.

Each person will be judged and rewarded by God individually. (2 Corinthians 5:10 [Christians]; Revelation 20:11-15 [sinners])

US Declaration of Independence says “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (individuals) are created equal, that they are endowed by their (individual) Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Jesus’ had three Apostles that were closest to him: Peter, James and John. Later, Paul became an Apostle. These four men were full of God’s revelation, and they were strong enough individuals to allow God to use the uniqueness of character that God gave them to produce the doctrines for Christian living (the New Testament). They didn’t just quote Jesus’ teachings, they built upon Jesus with the Word mixed with there own style, experience and perspective.

Don’t want to be like other people. If you want to be like someone, then be like Jesus! Everyone that you may want to emulate can and/or has failed. People can inspire you and/or encourage you, but never put your confidence in people.

Don’t emulate people’s style or personality. Let the real YOU come out from within you. You can draw from people’s talents, gifts and strengths, but never cover your own with someone else’s.

Never feel that if people don’t applaud or celebrate your individuality, that you are not good enough or can’t compete with your contemporaries. God created your individuality and an audience to showcase your gift. Keep your head up and do whatever you do as unto the Lord (Ephesians 6:5-9).

You are not an African American; you’re not a Caucasian; you’re not a senior citizen. These are groupings and you might fall into these groupings, but you are not a group. You are an individual. You may have commonalities with the group, but remember that you are not they and they are not you. You and the other individuals think, learn and respond to situations differently. Don’t get involved in groupthink and drown out the real YOU. Be you, that’s all you are.

Jesus defined who He was according to God. No one else’s opinion of Him was important. (John 8:48-50)

Although Jesus is apart of the Godhead (1 John 5:7), He is always distinguished as an individual that worked in concert with plural oneness of God (Colossians 2:9)

Individuality proves that God loves you, cares about you, and knows you personally. If not, then He would’ve made us all exactly the same.

Don’t allow people to discourage you by calling you a loner or an isolationist. Use genuine times of solitude to reflect and gather your thoughts. You can use times like this to learn about yourself and better understand the uniqueness of your individuality. Understanding yourself can also help you better understand other people. You will also get more confidence and more self-esteem about yourself if you take the time to know about and feel comfortable with yourself.

If you are never comfortable being alone with YOU, then you are not happy with yourself; either you don’t like who you are, or what you might find out you are.

If you don’t love who you are (as an individual), then you can’t love anyone else (Matthew 19:19).

Paul, Peter and James always wrote their epistles, and greeted and introduced themselves to the readers by name rather than their title. For example Colossians 1:1 says Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. Peter, James and Jude did similarly. This demonstrates that they saw themselves as individuals, with names. They didn’t identify themselves purely by their titles. They acknowledged that they were anointed to walk in the office (Apostleship) with the designated title; but it is apparent that they were comfortable in who they were in Christ, so as not to puff themselves up and think more highly than they ought to think (Romans 12:3).

“We need not be afraid to touch, to feel, to show emotion. The easiest thing in the world is to be what you are, what you feel. The hardest thing to be is what other people want you to be.”--Leo Buscaglia, 20th century Dr. of Love

“Do not desire to fit in. Desire to lead.”--Mary Kay Ash, Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics

This is really a bird’s-eye view to the importance of YOU as an individual. There is much more to say about the matter, but the main thing is that you start to understand the essence of YOU. God took a lot of time, and invested a lot of energy to get you here; not to mention that He broke the mold after He made you. Love God and YOURSELF and then you can love others; appreciate God and YOURSELF and then you can appreciate others; understand God and YOURSELF and then you can understand others; learn to listen to God and YOURSELF and then you can learn to listen to others; help God and YOURSELF and then you can help others; respect God and YOURSELF and then you can respect others; honor God and YOURSELF and then you can honor others; be generous to God and YOURSELF and then you can be generous to others, be patient with God and YOURSELF and then you can be patient with others; and lastly, look at the uniqueness of God and YOURSELF and then you can see the uniqueness of others. What am I saying? It’s all about YOU (Him in YOU more specifically)!!!!!! When you recognize that, He can shine through your personality, like only He can. You’re a vessel for God, so let God use the uniqueness that He created in YOU to be a conduit for Him to enter the earth. You’re created in the image and likeness of God, so act like it. Live well.