Today is Regret #1.
1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
Doesn't this hit home? You are told from a young age you need to be faster, smarter, stronger, better looking, have more money, consume more, own this, listen to that, etc...etc...etc.... Most of us were all raised to believe that who we are isn't good enough. This wasn't (in most cases) done by our parents, it happened because of the world that we live in.
This belief has permeated our culture, and it is deadly. The list of regrets shows that this is such an issue that many people take this all the way to their grave.
I think that the main point behind this regret deals with our identity, and realizing who we are and what we were created to be.
Why do we feel that who we are isn't enough and that we need to become something different in order to be accepted?
Have you ever been watching TV and a commercial for cologne or soda or tires or cigarettes comes on and it says, "You don't need our product because you are great just the way you are!" No? Me either. Why? Because us not being content with who we were created to be is a billion dollar industry.
So who are we, really?
"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." Psalm 139:14-16
This verse tells us that we were fearfully and wonderfully made, and we were made by a Creator that knows us, and designed us, and formed us to be exactly as we are.
If I really believed that I was created to be me, exactly as I am, with no faking and no pretending, how would that change things? If every part of my personality and appearance was crafted and formed for a reason, why would I want to change that?
When we are who we were created to be, there is freedom. However trying to be someone else, or something different, is exhausting and always leaves us unfulfilled.
If I believe that I was created by a loving God, when I try and be someone or something else, isn't that like saying, "God, thanks a lot, but I think that I can do this better" or "God, I think You made a mistake with me."
My dissatisfaction with myself is less about me and more about my doubt that God is really good, and really knows what He is doing.
What if you, the real you, with your quirks and weird habits and strange thoughts are exactly what God wants.
What if God likes you? Just as you were created.
If you and I would find our identity in who we already are, and who we were created to be, rather than allowing society to define our identity, we would find that our view of our self would change greatly.
Why? Because we were fearfully and wonderfully made by a God that knew exactly what He was doing when He created us. Because of "Who" created us, we can be confident, and secure in who we are.
Pastor and Author Craig Groeschel says
“Becoming obsessed with what people think about me is the quickest way to forget what God thinks about me.”
We have a decision to make. We can choose to believe what God says about us, or we can choose to believe what our culture says. If we continue to listen to our culture, we will continue to take this regret to our graves.
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