Nice girls don’t change the world, do they?

Nice girls don’t change the world, huh? Bull.

Who you really are as an individual is exactly what delights God and something the world is craving.

Lynne Hybels knows firsthand as do I. Sharing from her personal journey, she reveals in her book, “Nice Girls Don’t Change the World”, the tremendous importance of resisting the forces that would shape you into something other—and less—than who God made you to be.

It doesn’t take an army to make a difference. Margaret Mead once said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world,”

Another version of that quote is: “Never doubt that a community of thoughtful, committed women, filled with the power and love of God, using gifts they have identified and developed, and pursuing passions planted in them by God—never doubt that these women can change the world.”

“Nice girls” are taught early that serving God means earning God’s love and sacrificing oneself to meet the needs of others.

I’ve lived a life I always have thought was what God demanded, Christian guys wanted, my parents have demanded, and church has expected. And how has that left me feeling? Lost.

Every time I strive to please people or gain my joy from any human being, I might be happy temporarily, but long term, I always find myself disappointed; and ashamed that I would fall for seeking gratification from a sinful person again. How many times will I have to try this and fail for it to “hit home?”

I’ve come to the realization that this thing I call “my” faith isn’t mine at all. What a scary realization! My faith must be my own. Not just something I ‘do,’ a hobby or convenient pastime. I’m basing my whole entire life on it. It has to be more.

I’ve been tested lately in ways I would have never expected. A friend who isn’t a Christian at all is the one asking me the hard questions–the questions that test my faith. Why do I believe what I believe? Is it because someone else told me to, or is it because I really believe it?

I’m at the point in my life where I’m either going to completely abandon the faith all together or take a stand and really live for Christ. And let me tell you, I already know that I’m not willing to give up my Christianity for anything. Nothing. So that leaves only one option.

Be bold for him. I’m not going home. I won’t quit this game called life.

In Hybel’s wise and tender book, I feel like she has had an experience similar to mine. Hybel tells of her struggle to stop living someone else’s life and to reclaim the unique gifts, strengths and passions God gave her.

The book reveals how turning away from a false view of God as a “harsh” and “demanding taskmaster” enables a person to rest at last in God’s sustaining love.

It’s never too late to discover that who you really are is exactly what delights God–and what the world needs.

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