1 Corinthians 7:20
So don't try to change what you were when God chose you.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
When we got our first kitten, she was extremely wild. A friend “caught” her as she and her litter mates followed their mother across busy Highway 7 just north of Arkansas Tech. Tigger was clearly the runt of the litter, and she was just slow enough for our friend to rescue. The others made it safely across the road and into thick brush. For weeks after Tigger came to our home, she would hide under the couch, scared to death of her enormous owners. This tiny kitten fit in the palm of our hand. I would reach under the couch and drag her out… then wrap her in a dish towel to protect myself from her tiny, razor-sharp claws… and I would hold her tightly to my chest and talk soothingly to her.
I don’t remember exactly how long it took, but eventually, Tigger was no longer afraid of us or our little mobile home. She snuggled with us voluntarily, played and romped through the place, and generally became “Queen of the Castle.” When we would drive home to visit our family on weekends, she road on the dashboard of our car… perfectly content to doze there – even oblivious to the motion of the windshield wipers when it rained.
Then Tigger had kittens… and she changed again. She was still loving and fearless, but her contentment in the car was gone forever. All it took was one long, miserable ride home with her babies in a basket… crying, sick, and unhappy… and she had forever had enough of the car. From that point forward, there was no changing her. She was totally disgusted with the car and would let us know it! We might have succeeded in changing her from a terrified kitten on the side of the road into a loving, nurturing house cat… but we would never get her to ride on our dashboard again!
I will tell you right now… people will try to change you all of your life. Friends will want you to like what they like… to enjoy their same tastes in everything from fashion to sports to video games and music. Love interests may try to get you to become more like them. They may tell others, “He would be perfect if I could just get him to like musicals…” or “She is great except for being so disorganized… if I can just change that, we’ll get along fine.” Still others may say, “You need to come to this Bible study we are having – if you were serious about your walk with God, you would come to more things like this.”
Go back and read the verses leading up to 1 Corinthians 7:20. Clearly, God has a plan for our lives, and while some changes are positive – and there is nothing wrong with a Bible study, becoming more organizing, or deciding you like musicals – we can’t become someone else. We are who God made us to be… and trying to change to suit anyone except Him is just plain wrong. It will only lead to misery and possible disaster. We are not feral kittens who can be “tamed” over time… and this is not God’s design for us!
Search your heart… and spend time every day talking to God. Ask Him in all circumstances… “Is this what You want me to do? Is this who You have called me to be?” Trust His answers. If you sense that God is telling you the changes you are about to make are not of His doing, stop immediately and move in another direction.
The devil will delight in using others to try to sway your opinions… and he’s really clever at making a convincing argument. Our job as Christians is to stay awake and alert – and in constant communication with our Heavenly Father, who chose us just as we were and doesn’t want anyone else. Be authentic… be who God chose…only change if HE says so!
©2011 Debbie Robus
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