The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

SOME say one of the greatest gifts God has given to his believers is the gift of “uniqueness.” Christian acknowledge that no one is the same, and to appreciate and love who you are as a person, is a rewarding feeling.

International Christian author and speaker, Joyce Meyer, shares the same sentiments as well, as she wrote on her website that people should start believing that they are rare, one of a kind, valuable and precious.

Giving suggestions for believers to enjoy who God created them to be, she said people should speak good things about themselves, avoid comparing yourself with others, learn to cope with criticism and focus on your potential instead of your limitations.

Speaking with Tribune Religion, Samantha, a Methodist believer said people need to accept the fact that they are all beautifully and wonderfully made in the lord’s image and light.

“It is all about being happy with who you are. Sometimes when people look in the mirror, they tend to just look at all of their flaws, and this is not right. When I look in the mirror, I am happy because God made me different and the truth is, he likes variety,” said Samantha.

With similar views another believer, Dana Liddel, added: “God created us to reflect his image not to reflect the image of our fellow humans. We should be kind and loving towards others. We should practice unity and realize we are all flowers in his garden. Love others and love yourself. You shouldn’t change yourself to please another person, you should change yourself to please God based on his word and his teachings.”

According to Akeela, a follower of the Christian faith, she said she feels as if people cheat or betray God when they try to change themselves.

“I was just having this conversation with a friend not too long ago because this is something I have an issue with. Not when it comes to me, but when it comes to others whose aspirations are to be someone else or have things that other people have. It is one thing to admire someone, but it is another thing when you actually want to be someone else other than yourself. At the end of the day, however you look, smell, feel, or whatever the case is, that person is you and no one else can take that away from you. You have to accept your uniqueness and appreciate it. It is not about being different, it is about being unique,” said Akeela.

Speaking about her experience of travelling some parts of the world, another Christian said she got the chance to meet a very diverse set of people who absolutely love the skin they are in.

“I have Jamaican, Cuban, Hispanic friends, and let me tell you, they all are different, but they all accept who they are. Sometimes you just need positive people around you, to remind you that you are beautiful and you should not change for anyone or anything. I think the problem comes in when you cannot accept yourself from within. I can tell you that you are beautiful everyday from here to the moon, but if you don’t honestly believe that about yourself, then that is going to hurt you from the core of your soul. So my prayer for people like this is to live in love, once you love yourself, you would never see the need to change,” said the local.

With strong views, Taylor, a follower of the Catholic faith said many people struggle with accepting who they are, how they look, or their personality, and she can attest to being one of those persons one time ago. At least until she affirmed exactly who she is in Christ. Taylor said she now can fully appreciate herself.

“There is nothing about my life, or appearance I would change, because this is exactly how God wanted me to be. If things were supposed to be different then he would have designed it differently. By being unappreciative of who I am and how I look, is like me telling the all knowing and purposeful God, he did not do a good job, or he made a mistake when he created me. And God cannot, not do a good job or make a mistake, that is not who he is. He made my nose big for a reason. I may not know why he did it, but the true joy comes in life when one understands exactly what being made in the image and likeness of God means,” said Taylor.