Lunch For Three - Day 18

Nooma 018|Name
"We all compare ourselves to others. We spend our lives wondering what others think and say about us. Some of us even wish we were someone else. We question why we are the way we are and not the way we wish we could be. Some of us have let the expectations of others dictate who we've become. We act a certain way to be accepted but know that we're being untrue. But why are we so concerned with what other people think, say, or look like? What does it say about us if we are unable to accept who we are? Maybe if we really knew our true selves, we wouldn't give so much attention to other peoples' lives and live more in tune with the life God wants for us." NOOMAtube

And Jacob said unto his father, 'I am Esau, your first born.' Genesis 27:19

Have you ever wanted something that somebody else had? Maybe it was a car, maybe it was a game, or maybe it was even a physical characteristic, their height or beauty. As for myself I just started my first real world job, and let's just say I am not breaking the bank! I roll into work and see people driving cars all the time that I would like. I wish that I could jump as high as Lebron James. If you ask anybody what they would change about themselves they would hesitate to respond. Not because they are having trouble thinking of things they don't like about themselves, but because they are trying to narrow down the list of things they have inside their heads. Jesus invites us to be our true selves. To embrace who we are, what we are, and where we are. Yet we get hung up on what we are not. We get caught up in petty jealousy and desire for what we do not have. We are so worried about other people and what they have that we don't have, that we forget to be thankful for the blessings in our own lives.

Proverbs 14 says, "A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones." How much of our life do we lose out on when we are endlessly comparing ourselves to others. In Genesis, Jacob was jealous of the inheritance that Esau was in line to get. He went to great lengths to doop his father into thinking that he was indeed Esau that he lost sight of the good things in his life. As we can read, Jacob was a very talented young man. He was wise beyond his years and was growing to be a leader in the community. But this was not good enough for him, he wanted to be the oldest and he wanted to be strong, he wanted to be Esau. Jacob was so blinded by his jealousy that he deceived his own father and stole from his brother.

Take a second and look at yourself in the figurative mirror. Do you see envy? Do you see jealousy? How can we love others and love the world when we can't come to grips with that fact that who we are is who we are. And who we are is who God created us to be. I pray that I can get to the point where I look into the mirror happy with what I see, proud of what I see, because what I see is created by God and what I see is good. "May you do the hard work of the soul to discover your true self. May you find your unique path the one God has for you. And in the process, may you find yourself comfortable in your own skin" Rob Bell.