Just Be Real

"Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body." — Ephesians 4:25
 
Are you trying to be someone you're not?
 
When I was in college studying music, I had friends who were studying for ministry. I tolerated them. I liked them—but only so much. The reason I struggled with many of them was this: they weren't real.
 
I remember one guy who was studying for ministry. When I would talk with him normally, we'd have an easygoing conversation. But when he got behind a pulpit, all of a sudden he changed. He turned into Billy Graham. His enunciation changed. The intonations, the resonance of his voice—he was copying somebody else.
 
That affected speech is not real. And I struggled with that.
 
So I honestly said, "Lord, I'll do whatever you want as long as it's not preach." I didn't want to become fake like that.
 
But you know what? As time moved on, I got to the place spiritually where I just wanted to know Him. And when I stopped focusing on what next steps were and focused on wanting to know Jesus personally, that's when He began to give me the desire He wanted me to have.
 
God changed my heart from wanting to do music to wanting to share the gospel—as myself, not as an imitation of someone else.
 
"We have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God" (2 Corinthians 4:2).
 
God doesn't need another copy of someone else. He needs you—the real you. Authentic. Genuine. Unpolished if necessary, but real.
 
Stop performing. Start being yourself. That's where God can actually use you.