By Oke Chinye
Read: Psalm 139: 13-18
Meditation verse:
“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well” (Psalm 139:14).
The lyrics of a famous song by the late music legend, Whitney Houston goes this way:
“I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone’s shadows. If I fail, if I succeed, at least I’ll live as I believe. No matter what they take from me, they can’t take away my dignity. Because the greatest love of all Is happening to me. I found the greatest love of all Inside of me. The greatest love of all Is easy to achieve. Learning to love yourself. It is the greatest love of all”.
I had never given this song much thought until recently when I stumbled upon the lyrics online. The above words caught my attention and made a whole load of sense to me. Whitney was letting us know through her song that it is much better to be yourself and live by your own values and beliefs than trying to copy or be like someone else. She says that would amount to walking in their shadows. Her song makes us understand that the greatest love you can show to yourself is to be true to yourself. Whether you become great or not, at least you would have lived your life in authenticity.
A lot of times, we pretend or live in self-denial to escape the negatives of our lives. We pretend to be who or what we are not. We fake it to make it, or we keep living a lie. In today’s world where so much is colored by superficial tendencies, many people are hiding behind layers of pretense and living in the shadows of other people. But there is power in allowing yourself to accept who you are and be “YOU”. There is beauty in authenticity. Why not declare like the Psalmist did, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well”. Walk in your own shadow and be yourself, every other person is taken.
IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Pst (Mrs) Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).
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