FROM THE PULPIT: DON'T TRY TO BE SOMETHING YOU'RE NOT

Once upon a time, long, long ago, when men were allowed to marry more than one wife, a man married two women. One was a little older than he was, the other was much younger. When he was with his older wife, she snuggled up to him, stroked his hair, and one by one, pulled out the dark hairs, for "gray is so distinguished looking, you know."

Conversely, when he was with his younger wife, she too snuggled up to him and stroked his hair, but she pulled out all the gray hairs because the dark hair made him look young. It wasn't too long before the man was completely bald!

Yield to the wishes of all, and soon there will be nothing left to yield!

The man with the two wives makes a cute story. But how often do many of us do the same thing with our personality? We want to please people, (which in itself is not all bad) so we say "yes" to every request, we agree to every proposal, we try to fulfill every wish. Or we listen to personal.criticism so much and try to change ourselves to please everyone. The result? Someone who is overtired, fatigued, sick, wishy-washy, indecisive, weak and powerless, or a combination of several of these.

Once a giant named Goliath challenged the Israelites to send out a champion to fight him, the greatest warrior of the Philistines. His size-and self-confidence cowed the Israelites into refusing to fight. No one would take up the challenge. No one, that is, until David, the shepherd boy happened along. "Why will no one fight this loud braggart who defies God and his people?" David asked. King Saul tried to outfit David with Saul's own armor and weaponry in order to fight Goliath, but David refused. "I am not used to this equipment. It will get me killed. I'll use my shepherd's sling and stones. I defeated lions and bears with this, and I will defeat Goliath, too." And he did. (I Samuel 17)

We can take a lesson from David. Not only the lesson of faith in God, and courage in difficult circumstances, but this: use what the Lord has given you. We all have been given gifts from God.(1 Corinthians 12) These-are sufficient for the "battles" we have to face. God is love (1 John 4:8), he is on our side (Psalm 118:6), he will always not give us more than we can handle, and make a way of escape.(1 Corinthians 10:13) But each of us must do so with the tools God has given each of us.

Don't try to be someone you're not. But by all means, offer yourself to God and become what He would have you be! (Romans 12:12) Receive Jesus Christ as your savior from sin. Receive the Holy Spirit in your heart. Then use the spiritual gifts God gives to you. (Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4:1-16, 1 Peter 4:7-11)