The Way I Was Made
Do you live the way you were made? Do you live your life worrying about what other people are thinking? One of my favorite upbeat songs of late is a song by Chris Tomlin entitled "The Way I Was Made". The chorus is below.
I want to dance like no one's around
I want to sing like nobody's listening
Before I lay my body down
I want to give like I have plenty
I want to love like I'm not afraid
I want to be the man I was meant to be
I want to be the way I was made
A lot of biblical principles come to my mind when I hear this song. I could write about redeeming the time (Eph 5:15-16, Col 4:5), spiritual gifts (Ro 12:4-8) or my motivations for service (Eph 6:5-7). However, I think the most interesting thing to explore here is the reason why sometimes we don't live our lives to the fullest ... fear. What if we all put into practice the following verse?
1 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
I contend that fear (perhaps combined with pride) keeps us from living the way this song's chorus suggests. If we could overcome our fear of failure, looking silly, or getting hurt and realize how fearfully and wonderfully made we are, I think that we all would accomplish more for God's kingdom. Our motives would be purer, our lives would be much richer and I bet we would have much more fun.
If you want to dance, sing and love more, why don't you give thought to the following. I will.
1 ) If I don't "dance" or "sing" like no one's around, am I really living my life just for Jesus?
2) What is really keeping me from being the man or woman God made me to be?