Fun...Who or What defines it?

Individuality is one of the many gifts God has blessed humanity with--this must be true. God couldn’t have created so many people with different personas on accident. There is a reason for everything He does! There is a reason for my seriousness, your comic, her outgoing personality, and the list goes on and on!!

When I observe those in my surroundings, I notice that many people choose to conform rather than separate.  And I feel as though this choosing is often done BLINDLY! Going along with the crowd is done the most when you notice it the least—at least I know that is what occurs to me. The more present something is, the more you want to catch on to it and follow the flow! The YOLO flow, the skinny jeans flow, the “Rihanna pixie-hair cut” flow! There are simply too many trends to discuss—ones current and those declining in popularity. I am not writing this to necessarily bash these trends because saying YOLO for the sake of doing so was fun and the Rihanna’s pixie hair cut indeed is a cute haircut! I simply want to place on emphasis on what’s really going on with us: we easily become influenced rather than influence!

Our different personalities and interests can offer something new to the table, but only if we allow it to. Ask yourself, What is something that I enjoy doing? Next ask yourself, Why? Do you enjoy it because everyone around you enjoys it or do YOU yourself have fun doing it?

People assume that Christians can’t have fun and I don’t blame anyone for thinking that way. At some point, I grew discouraged in my faith because I was (I still am) the Christian girl who would not engage in some of the activities my friends decided to and therefore I began to spend more time alone. To be sane in college, I came up with the solution that I just might have to surround myself around people with perspectives similar to the new ones I’ve formed during my spiritual growth. Transforming into a disciple, calls for change. Changed behavior may come with changed surroundings. I am not too familiar with God calling us to live boring lives, but I am familiar that we “were called to be free. But [we must] not use [our] freedom to indulge the sinful nature” (Galatians 5:13, NIV). We don’t have to refrain from enjoying our lives. We simply need to reflect on whether or whether not our fun keeps us from resembling Christ.

Strive to be “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14, NLT) while maintaining and divulging to the rest of the world your “you-ness.”