CAMPBELLTON, New Brunswick, May 22, 2023 – It’s important to remind yourself every now and then that God called you to be YOU. It’s important to remind yourself, because the world will try to change you to be something that you’re not.

But God didn’t call you to be something that you’re not. He didn’t call you to change your personality or anything about you. He called you to be you, but with his Spirit in you.

When God puts his Spirit in you, the core essence of what makes you YOU does not change. If you had a sweet personality before you were born-again, you’ll continue to be sweet. If you had a salty personality before you were born-again, you’ll continue to be salty.

Your personality (what makes you YOU) doesn’t change when you’re born-again – your values change. What you believe changes. What you’re willing to fight and die for changes. But your personality doesn’t change.

So having an outspoken and bold personality, I get razzed every now and then for being abrasive. I’m told it’s not Christian to be abrasive. I’m told that being plain-speaking (not sugar-coating the Word) comes across as judgemental. I’m told not to judge.

But God called me to be who I am, just as he called you (if you’re born-again) to be who you are. If I had an abrasive personality before I was called and God still called me, then he has need of an abrasive personality in the Kingdom, and I’m happy to comply.

Every now and then, before I was born-again, I tried being a people-pleaser on for size, but it didn’t fit. I tried being nicey-nice, but that didn’t fit. I tried to like what I didn’t like or to agree with what I didn’t agree with or to go along just to get along, but none of those things worked for me. I felt like a fraud. I felt like I was pretending to be someone else, pretending to be something and someone I’m not.

So I stopped pretending and was just me. It didn’t win me many friends (or the support of many relatives), but at least I didn’t feel like an intruder in my own skin.

Shortly after I was born-again, I also tried (for a time) to be nicey-nice and to go along to get along, thinking I had to do so to “be Christian”. But even as a Christian, being nicey-nice didn’t suit me. I again felt like a fraud. So I decided that, Christian or not, and regardless of how people disliked it, I was going to continue to be a straight-shooter and not sugar-coat the Word, because that’s who I am, and who I am is how God made me and why he called me.

We need to remind ourselves of this every now and then, that God called us to be us. He didn’t call us to change our personality to please others. The last thing God would ever want me to do is to change my personality. He made me as I am for a reason. He called me for a reason. So if you’ve got a problem with the way I am, take it up with God.

Oh, and have a nice day. ;D