Be yourself! Do what makes you happy! Forget the haters, they’re just jealous. I’m sure if you have spent any time at all on Facebook, or the internet in general, you have run across these sayings. They are most often found plastered over some stock photo of a shirtless man or a predatory animal.
Typically we classify these phrases under the Motivational Quote category. They’re meant to make you feel good and be relatable, as a result, they’re highly shareable. Unfortunately, they are so horribly misguided and unhealthy maxims.
Take, for instance, the phrase, “Be yourself!”. On the outside, it seems like an encouraging thing to say. In fact, you might even think that it is a morally right thing to encourage people to be themselves. Unfortunately, If any one person were to indeed, to “be themselves,” we would have quite the problem on our hands.
Being yourself would be great if you had no character flaws, evil tendencies, or moral shortcomings. The problem is, we all have those. Some of us have them in higher volume or in worse forms than others but is undeniable that we all have them to some degree. This fact poisons our ability to say things like “Be yourself!” “Do what makes you happy!”, or the ever-favorite “Belief in yourself!”.
So, don’t be yourself, but do be honest with yourself. Learn about areas of yourself where you need to improve on and work on them.
Don’t do what makes you happy, do what is right, and pursue what is meaningful. As a result, you may find happiness.
Don’t believe in yourself, doubt yourself, and question your motives. Do not be so sure you are in the right, and all others are in the wrong. Be open to rebuke and be willing to repent. For all have fallen short and none are good.
Its time to stop feeding on the things you want to hear, and time to start coming to terms with the truth.
Great post! I think the phrase would be optimized if we’d say “be yourself in Christ” but first we need to find who we really are!