Why you can’t just “be yourself”

Show of hands – how many of you have heard someone say, “Just be yourself”?

They say it with the best intentions, usually trying to settle some nerves. It can feel like good advice too because it implies that you and I shouldn’t act like anything we’re not, we shouldn’t be hypocrites.

I’ve written before about my feelings on authenticity, but I thought I’d put together a little video to show why being yourself leaves so much on the table.

Check it out. [If you’re in an RSS reader, you’ll need to click through.]

Takeaway:

• “To become something better, you have to become something you’re not.”

Serving Suggestions:

(1) What area of your life are you comfortable in? Where do you feel like you have things down, or at least you feel like they’re settling down?

(2) Shake up that area. Unless it falls in that tiny sliver of gray where what you are aligns with what God wants for you, change it. Move into the bigness that is the white circle.