No Longer A Chameleon...

Freedom in Christ produces a healthy independence from peer pressure, people-pleasing, and the bondage of human respect.  The tyranny of public opinion can manipulate our lives.  What will the neighbors think?  What will my friends think?  The expectations of others can exert a subtle but controlling pressure on our behavior.

                As a chameleon changes colors with the seasons, so the Christian who wants to be well thought of by everyone attunes and adapts to each new personality and situation.  Without a stable and enduring self-image, a woman may offer radically different aspects of herself to different men; she may be pious with her pastor and seductive with the office manager.  Depending upon company and circumstances, a man may be either a sweet-talking servant of God or a foulmouthed, bottom-pinching boor.  Continuity of character is conspicuously absent in both sexes.

                My spiritual director once told me, “Brennan, give up trying to look and sound like a saint.  It will be a lot easier on everybody.”

                Living by grace inspires a growing consciousness that I what I am in the sight of Jesus and nothing more.  It is His approval that counts.

                    Brennan Manning (The Ragamuffin Gospel)