A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. (Wikipedia)
Have you ever met a person with just one interest, or who lived in just one mood or state of mind at all times? Or are you always feeling the same way or wanting to do the same thing every single minute of every day? Do you have just one interest and nothing else holds any meaning for you? I doubt it. I know I am certainly not that way and I haven't met anyone else like that either. No, we all have a variety of interests, talents, feelings, and thoughts. Life would be extremely boring if we didn't. I don't think God lives in monochrome. The world around us certainly does not seem to support that idea. Every day there is a multitude of color, sound, taste and texture in the world He has created.
Recently, in thinking about this, I have come to view each person as a kind of mosaic. All the little pieces of our lives add up to one big mosaic picture. Each one of our personality traits, our interests, even if they seem trivial, all add up to create the beautiful big picture. And we are created this way by design.
Two verses that I think about often support this idea.
For you created my inmost being:
You knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from You
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
~ Psalm 139:13-15
For we are God's handiwork, related in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. ~ Ephesians 2:10
We often feel like we're failing at life because we are trying to be like other people, or like we think other people think we should be. I know I have certainly done this in the past, and sometimes still find myself doing this. But it doesn't work. Yes, it's important to get good advice from reliable trustworthy people in our lives, but we cannot try to be those people. If any two people are exactly alike one is redundant and unnecessary.
It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. ~ E. E. Cummings
In a world that favors following the crowd it is often a little frightening to embrace the parts of oneself that do not fit in with the crowd. I know, personally, that sometimes the things that interest me have no appeal to others. Sometimes the path I feel called to walk in a certain area of my life is a completely different path than those around me are taking. And that's okay. I am me, you are you, and it's okay for us to be different. Not more than, not less than, just different from, each other.
Be sure that the ins and outs of your individuality are no mystery to Him; and one day they will no longer be a mystery to you. ~ C. S. Lewis
Do you ever look around and get the feeling that many of us seem to be trying to look the same way, live a life like everyone else, and fit into the same mold. And for many of us it's a very uncomfortable fit, yet we keep trying anyway. I want to live proud of Who created me and who He created me to be. I want to confidently display the work He did when He made me and the work He continues to do in my life.
Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation. ~ Oscar Wilde
I don't know about you, but I really don't want to be anyone else but who God made me to be. I want to learn to be comfortable in my own skin, knowing that God has a reason for how He made me.
In the moment of our creation we receive the stamp of our individuality; and much of life is spent in rubbing off or defacing the impression. ~ Augustus William Hare
Ouch! Do you ever have times when you wonder why on earth you are the way you are? I know I do! Sometimes I just wish I could erase certain character traits. They are traits that I can't say are bad, just, I don't know, maybe a bit inconvenient. But they are a part of who I am and maybe the feeling of inconvenience is simply my inability to accept not being like someone else.
A red rose is not selfish because it wants to be a red rose. It would be horribly selfish if it wanted all the other flowers in the garden to be both red and roses. ~ Oscar Wilde
Along with trying to fit into a mold not made for us, many times we try to make others join us in this silly effort. It's as if gathering a group to be miserable with us makes the painful, futile process of conformity a good thing. I want to be the cheerleader for every person who is living the life and being the person God called them to be instead of trying to melt into a crowd of sameness.
Who can say more than this rich praise, that you alone are you. ~ William Shakespeare
Today be who you are, who you were created to be. Celebrate the uniqueness you were created with. You are here for a purpose and there is no one else who can fulfill this purpose for you.
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