October 21, 2021

At my ordination ceremony when I was ordained as a minister Pastor Bill said something that I will always remember, he told me “Be Sheila.” Those two words are so simple, but so profound. I thought about that today when I came across one of my favorite scriptures:

God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing. – Ephesians 2:10 (New Century Version)

God has made us what we are – God has made us who we are. When Pastor Bill told me to “Be Sheila,” he was reminding me of this. He was telling me to be who I am and not try to be somebody else. That sounds like such a simple thing to do, but sometimes it’s difficult. We look at other people and the things that they do and we say to ourselves, “Oh, I wish I could be like them!”

But God has made you who you are. He has created you as a wonderful and unique person who has your own special things to bring to the world. I love the quote, “What we are is God’s gift to us. What we become is our gift to God,” but I think an even better way to say it is – What we are is God’s gift to us. What we do is our gift to God.

How can you use the gift of yourself today? How can you use who you are to serve others and to serve God?

Don’t try to be somebody else. Be yourself – your best self – that’s the best gift you can give to God and give to the world.