164. I DO NOT WISH TO BE A CLONE OF YOU

(The Information & Edification Series – Batch 3)

We must be careful in the body of Christ, not to brand, devalue, judge and condemn other believers, simply because they don’t value the things we value, prioritize the things we prioritize, like all the things we like and because they have a personality that is different from ours. God did not create us to be clones but he made us different and this is to be realized and appreciated.

For example, one believer may be extroverted but the other may be introverted. The extroverted believer is not more spiritual or loving than the introverted one or more special than the person that may not have as much social skills as the other.

One believer may put a lot of emphasis on celebrating Christmas with festivities, whereas the other may love Jesus but prefer to spend the day quietly reading the Bible, than to have a large party with friends and family, lots of food and decorations.

One believer may be good with speeches and love to speak in a public forum whereas the other believer may not like this but love to write instead.

To expect someone to act the same way you do and like the same things you like, (once it is not an issue with that person’s attitude or something that is in blatant contradiction to the scriptures) and hating on that person, even judging and condemning that person because he or she is not like you and you cannot control him or her to your liking is not just wrong but foolish and a definite work of the enemy.

The Word of God tells us that where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17), not bondage. We are therefore free to have our own personalities, our own likes and dislikes, our own tastes and preferences, provided it does not go against the Word of God.

God made us different and as I wrote on 12^th November, 2016:

The Lord never scripts the exact same story for any two of his children. Each story and each journey is different. It is supposed to be different: Different FACTS, different ANGLES, different CHARACTERS, different OCCURRENCES, different TIMELINES, different HIGHS, different LOWS, different CHALLENGES, different STORMS and different CELEBRATIONS.

However, it is the intention of the script writer that every story crafted by his hands has the same outcome: VICTORY.

If his children would let him, the Lord is able to extract beauty out of every story but we must let go of the pen and trust him, the one who made us, to write what is best for us. We must also allow him to direct our lives as he sees fit, aligning us to the purpose that he has created us for.

If each person would only focus on how his or her own story unfolds and of the lessons learned during the process, if each person would only ensure that the author and finisher remains central to the theme and that he is also allowed to direct as he pleases, then each story would be a resounding success and redound to the honour and glory of God himself.

Remember, you are an original, not made like anyone else. You are therefore worthy of your own original plot and your own story. It doesn’t have to look like your neighbours or your sister’s or your co-workers’. It just needs to look like God intended it to look and everything will be okay.

Proverbs 29:25 reminds us: “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.”

Always be watchful and prayerfully on your guard therefore, when someone has a tendency to get upset with you for not being like him or her and doing what he or she wants you to do or behaving how he or she expects or wants you to act, simply because you have a different personality to him or her or behave differently, due to a different upbringing, different culture, your having had a different life experience that has shaped your perspective in a different way or the fact that you are going through a different season to that which the other person is going through, at the moment.

You are not here to please man but God and there is no requirement in God’s Word, that you must be just like so and so. For, so and so is not Christ.

This behaviour is a diabolical strategy of the enemy, to get you to walk on egg-shells and to worry constantly about how you are coming across to the person and whether you just being yourself, will get him or her upset. You therefore become uneasy, your peace leaves and you worry about every word you should say or not say or how you should behave around that person because he or she is watching your every move and word like a hawk. In this regard, Jesus gets demoted and the person is placed on a pillar in your mind.

This is the devil’s ploy to keep you in the bondage of that person’s opinions, so that you cannot freely enjoy your Christian life and be who God made you to be.

In Psalm 56:1-6. David prayed:

“Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me. Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil. They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.”

This is not the way that God intended for you to live, constantly walking on egg-shells because someone has a problem with your personality or your likes and dislikes because it is not exactly like his or hers. It takes a very proud, self-righteous, self-important and narrow-minded person to expect everybody to be just like him or her and to like the exact same things that he or she likes and to have the audacity to throw you shade when you don’t behave how he or she wants or expects you to behave and to condemn you, when Christ already irreversibly redeemed you. Who died and made that person king (or queen?). The last time I checked, it was Jesus that died and therefore, no man can condemn you.

In Isaiah 51:12-13, God told his children:

“I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; And forgettest the Lord thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?”

The same applies to you. Let the Word of God be your standard for living and operating and being, not that sister or brother that wants you to be a clone of him or her because he or she has serious control issues and is allowing himself or herself to be used as a messenger and thorn of satan to buffet you.

Take your eyes from off that person and focus squarely on Jesus Christ. That person wants you to idolize him or her but Jesus is on the throne of your heart, not him or her. He has made you as you and given you a beautiful personality. It may not be exactly like another person and due to you being two different people, the two of you may not be exactly alike or behave alike or like the exact same thing and that is okay.

Once you are not exhibiting a character trait that goes against God’s Word, it is okay to be you. Don’t allow the devil to use people to try to make you feel otherwise.

Remember, he is the accuser of the brethren, as we learn in Revelations 12 but thank God, that wicked spirit of accusation can be overcome by the blood of the Lamb (Jesus) and the word of our testimony.

Revelations 12:10-11 gives us insight into the future when it states of the devil’s inevitable demise:

“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and BY THE WORD OF THEIR TESTIMONY.”

(Written on 04^th December, 2020)

Dear Reader, if you found the above Article to be interesting, informative, edifying or beneficial, you may also be interested in reading the following under the ‘SINGLE Daughters’ Page: