Individuality

There is a cost to discipleship that few of think about as a cost - individuality. We must be able to find our own individual spirit that God has created within us in order to find the gifts we have been given and be creative with them. We must be able to to be find characteristics about ourselves that distingushed from others around us in order to be an individual. Read the following verses in light of this idea.

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.

Luke 14:25-26

So I would ask the question if we have "hated" those around us enough to not take on their traits, but live with our own traits. For instance, have I "hated" my father enough to not take on his trait of worry and anxiety or do I still love my father more and continue to hang on to worry. Many of us today would say to ourselves one of these two things:

1) I want to be just like _______________

2) I swore I would never be like _________

Either one probably leads us to not hating and being more like our families. In the first we are trying to be just like them and thereby we are not looking for our own unique, individual giftedness that God has given us. In the second, we are say that we will never be like them, but this means we never look at how we are exactly like them. If we do not look at it we cannot change it. We end up becoming exactly like them. We lose the creative spirit that God has given to us to use! We cannot be a disciple of Christ and attempt to be like someone else or not look at how we need to change. We also need to lose our own life. Being an individual really means finding life in God, in what God has purposed for you, and living that out. This may be something that you would never want to do, or something you could not see yourself doing. However, God has given you that creative ability that is to be used. This is that part of you that cries out daily, "you were made for more than this." This is your intuition, God's spirit inside of you telling you that your dreams are place there by the Creator - follow them.

But to follow them we must become a disciple of Christ, find our individuality, break from the tribe, and "hate" all others around us. The ego must be put to death. We must not be so concern about what others think and let that define us, but rather what God has inspired us to accomplish and do that. Break from your internal or external limits that say you have to do what your family or someone else says. Be a radical follower of Christ, a rugged individual who listen to the voice of spirit so much that all others feel "hated."

Namaste'