12for12: No More Clones

“The challenge today is to be yourself in a world that is trying to make you like everyone else.” – Unknown

There is something lodged deep within each of us that longs to be unique, different…someone who doesn’t conform to what everyone else is doing. In short we long to be special, to be somebody’s favorite.  I don’t think this is an evil desire and perhaps reflects our worth in our Creators eyes. Ever since the first TV was turned on we have been fed the lie that everyone acts and looks the same way.  I’m sure you have heard of the ancient dilemma: does art imitate life or does life imitate art? While I believe both happens, I think the evidence is pretty clear with the 100′s of students I’ve worked with over the years that usually: life imitates art…or specifically people imitate what they see on TV, in magazines and on the internet. Advertisers tell us what we have to wear, how we’re supposed to smell, what kind of cars if we want to be like everyone else. How many iPhone’s do you think were sold to people who had no idea what it could do for them simply because they saw a slick commercial and everyone at their work had one?

What a challenge for us in 2012…to be uniquely who God made us to be, rejecting the counterfeit substitutes that our culture sells us.  The world doesn’t need another clone…what this world needs is you being YOU.  

Are you up for the challenge of being yourself this year?