I don’t know about you, but there have been times, lots of them, when I’ve tried to be someone else.

You know…

• preach like Steven Furtick
• lead like John Maxwell
• deadlift like Brandon Lilley
• have Dale Carnegie people skills
• ride a bike like Paul Sr.
• sport sideburns like Luke Perry (remember him?)

Some of these are dusty, old memories. Some of these are still lingering. There are many days when someone else looks so much better than the guy who shaves me (that’s me, in case you wondered).

So I’m reading “The Emotionally Healthy Church” in preparation for an upcoming teaching series at Church180. This is the second time I’ve read it, but this time I’m highlighting things I didn’t see before.

One of those highlighted passages that took my breath away and made its way into my journal was one that deals with being okay with being you.

Scazzero (the author) writes about all the conferences he went to and books he read promising to grow his church and make him a better, bigger person with a better, bigger church. And then he writes this…

“The problem was that God has not given me the abilities and capacities He has given to these other leaders. I bring other strengths to the task of leadership. My unwillingness to accept reality led me down paths God had never intended. For years I tried to live out a script for my life that was not mine. While the script needed a character, I was the wrong person auditioning for the part.”

Oh my…

Now I’m thirty-eight and just starting to figure some of these things out. I still don’t have a total grasp on this matter but I’m realizing it’s okay to be the Paul that God created me to be… and that means I’ll be saying “No” to more, and “Yes” to less… but those things I’m working to say “Yes” to will bring me great joy and be of greater benefit to those around me.

It’s okay to be me. AND… it’s okay to be you!