It isn’t that hard to be different. Everyone is doing it. With everyone trying to be different, we become different by default. But I am not just talking about being different in a worldly sense. I dare you to be different than the world. Will you dare to be different?
I have a question to ask right off the bat! If I told you that I have evidence of something more amazing than you could ever imagine, would you dare to be different to experience it?
Dare to be Different! The meaning:
- to step out of the mold, and make space for your creative twists. The act of being different when no one else is.
Romans 12:2a MSG
Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.
Oxymoron
Dare to be different is an oxymoron to what you should be *(go to the end for the answer), but read the following first:
What does it mean to be different? To me, it means swimming upstream. Culture, mainstream media (narrative), and the ‘way of the world’ says to do it “this way.” So along we go being controlled by what others say you should be and what others say you should do. So why do we go with the flow? It’s easygoing. Being different, it’s hard!
Matthew 7:13 ESV
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
The Spartan
Wow, that reminds me of the toughest run I’ve ever been in – the Spartan Sprint. It was anything but a sprint. It was all mud. Shoe-sucking mud! The kind where your shoe comes off and you can’t find it because the ground swallowed it. Do you ever feel like that in life?
Carmen and I did this challenge with our daughter Lexi just a few years back. It’s the one event that I was praying a helicopter would fly over, drop a rope, and pull us out. It was a 5K, 3.1 miles of my life which I was never so glad to have behind me. It took us 5 hours to finish.
This was one moment we were all proud of each other. The picture below of Lexi (my daughter) and the look on her face shows the grit it took…and the grit you took in your teeth. Even in mud, she is beautiful like her momma. 😊
Going Against the Flow
It takes guts to go against the flow and it is hard work. And many times, you are at it alone, or so it feels.
In business or at work, you have to be different. What sets you apart? With business owners I connect with, it’s their professionalism, processes, and setting the bar high. Their “why” drives them to be different, and to make a difference. The “why” fuels their passion and drive. What about you, what sets you apart?
You won’t make it by being like the 97% that follow the Pied Piper. What is it that sets you apart? Dare to be different!
Proverbs 1:15 NIV
my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths;
What is the oxymoron that has now brought you to this point? Being yourself is being different …different than everyone else.
Dare to be different by being yourself.
You are different. Jesus Christ has set you apart. Don’t try to be something you are not – that’s what the crowd does.
God created you as a unique individual, and to be a unique individual. He created you to be who you are. Be yourself by not going with the flow of the crowd. By being you, you are set apart.
1 John 2:15 MSG
Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father.
Challenge of the Week
Be set apart today. Dare to be different today by being who God created you to be. Be different by walking with Jesus, in your every-day-walking-around-kind-of-life. Be yourself. So be it!
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