For some reason we think that our experience of something ought to be the same as other people's. But even for things where there is a lot of commonality, our experience will still be unique because we are unique.
I always compare myself with others and wonder why I don't produce the same results as they do or why my experience isn't like theirs. Some things are harder for me than they are for other people and some things are easier.
It's important to honor your differences and not to see them as liabilities.
When it comes to matters of faith, I tend to judge myself against standards that are based on other people. They are the standard. But I was thinking this morning that I don't need to want to have faith exactly like other people. Just because we have the same faith, believe the same things, live by the same principles (leaving aside for the moment the question of whether that's possible) doesn't mean that we will be carbon copies of each other, but we so often think like that.
My faith can be real, and it can also be distinctive. It's my own faith.
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