In high school I had gotten a bad reputation, I was seen as the love sick, would do anything for a little attention, loser. This is what a projected to the people around me. I would do whatever I needed to fit in; I would hate on someone, even though I didn't know them, just so I didn't have to face the teasing of the people that I was trying to fit in with. Man was that tiring. You don't get to be yourself just so you can call someone a friend. Eventually by grade 11 I got tired of this and just began to be who I knew in my heart I was. I had three years left before graduation and I was not going to try to fit a mold.
As I got older I started to make my circle smaller. Only those who brought the best out in me were ones that I gave my attention to. You have heard the expression "garbage in, garbage out" I didn't want to live like that anymore. I didn't want to be remembered as a loser. I noticed how much better I felt when I could stand up for how I wanted to be treated, and treated others the same way..
When I got baptised I realized just how much your reputation can and will proceed you. As a children's minister, what I taught the children on being Christ-like, I couldn't just say the words, I had to show the words. I had to be careful with what I did outside of the church. I was able to go to karaoke, but I had to do so in a way that wouldn't make any parents of the children see me in a different light. My reputation as someone teaching their children about Jesus depended on it.
Paul exhorts us in Ephesians 5:8 "Now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light." Live as if Christ is at the center of everything that you do. I hope that as I leave this world that people can honestly say that I was a Child of Light. I lived according to the words written in the Bible. That when people seen me they would see someone who loved the Lord with all her heart and soul.
Yours in Christ
Heather
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