Standing out and standing up

 

We all know what it’s like to want to stand out.

 We want to be looked at as different from everyone else, we want to be unique. 

We all want to be special in our own way and be remembered because we did something different from the crowd.

What if I told you that you don’t have to wear crop tops and skinny jeans and dye your hair 30 different colors to achieve the desire to be unique?

 Well, get ready because I am about to.

Picture this. You’re in a large room, with a bunch of people in it. Each one of them has different colored hair. Some have TONS of makeup on, some have little to none, and each one has less clothing on than the last.

You go into the bathroom and look in the mirror. 

 You’re wearing a T-shirt that covers your collar bone, you’re wearing a pretty skirt that goes below your knees. Your hair is your own natural color.

You look down at your shoes.

 They aren’t the shoes that look like you glued bricks on your feet and painted them black. 

They aren’t high heels that make you three feet taller, they are simple shoes, that are comfortable and easy to walk in.

 Then it clicks. You are different.

They are trying to change who God made them to be. In this way, they are all the same and you are the different one.

 You are being the person God made you to be, and you are pleasing him by doing it in a modest way.

I know what you’re thinking, “well, since I am already doing that, I wouldn’t be hanging out with all those people. I would be with my friends who share the same views, and therefore, I would not be standing out.”

 First of all, when you're hanging out with friends, you shouldn’t be concerned about standing out. They like you the way you are, that’s why they are your friends.

But, if you don’t have friends, and you want to make some by standing out then continue reading…

If you are still reading, then that probably means you are less inclined to dye your hair pink to get attention, and you just don’t know what to do.

Well, if you are trying to make friends with similar views as you, then you need to do the most important thing.

 Be yourself.

 People are attracted to your friendship because of who you are and what you believe. If you act differently than what you believe, then you are false advertising.

You are much more likely to attract the wrong people being someone you’re not, than the right people.

 If you want a long-term friendship, then you want to show people who you really are.

Shy and outspoken?

Outgoing and friendly?

 Whatever it might be, you want to be yourself.

Now that we have talked about being yourself, let’s talk about how to stand out while being yourself.

 Newsflash!

To stand out in a good way means to be who God made you to be.

 You will be noticed as the person who acts the way they were made.

 You might not think so, but people see other people with dyed hair and think, “Wow, I guess she doesn’t really like who she is.” And to me, those people also seem fake.

They are trying to be something they are not. They just have this undeniable fakeness to them.

 It’s because they aren’t being who God created them to be.

 I mean, I highly doubt that there has ever been a baby born with neon green hair and a nose ring, and so there is just this artificial fakeness to them.

Kind of like when you taste a strawberry flavored candy, and you think, “Yuck! This is not how strawberries taste! So artificial.”

 Whether people realize this or not, they know that there is just something fake about those people.

So now you’re probably wondering, “where is the standing up part? I thought this was ‘standing out AND standing up’?”

 It is, I just haven’t gotten to it yet.

When you chose to stand out by being yourself, you are standing up to cultural push to be someone you’re not.

Do you see now? standing out in a good way, is standing up to the world.

 And this will attract the kind of people that you want to be friends with.

I hope this helps you stand up to world and stand out in the way God wants you to.

 Also, remember that if no one else does, God ALWAYS sees what you do to stand up to the cultural norms.

I will leave you with this verse from 1 Peter 3:3-4, “Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— ⁴ but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious