Who told you?

I have a serious question to ask you? Who told you that? I know I’m being a little forthright but think about it. A lot of what we’ve been told was not Biblical, nor was it God’s will for our lives.

So who told you that you had to be married by a certain age? Who told you that the perfect family included two children, a dog, and a house on a hill? Who told you that your ministry is just behind the pulpit? Who told you?

These things begin to shape our desires until we begin to go after what someone else wants. In other words, we can be pursuing someone else’s dreams and callings.  Dangerously, people tend to live vicariously through us, claiming that the Lord told them things to tell us, but the voice was actually their own fears. And just because you don’t do things the way everyone wants you to do them doesn’t mean you’re outside of God’s will. Follow God’s voice, and those who speak on His behalf will resonate His heart.

Unhealthy loyalty is feeling as if loving a person means to accept every bit of advice they give, even if it’s not wise counsel. And on the flip side, some people believe that they are not loved unless people do everything they tell them to do. Neither is healthy. Love gives a choice, so we should be given the opportunity to choose the path God is leading us on, even if a part of that plan involves not receiving advice from someone we really love and care about. That doesn’t mean we don’t love them; it just means we’re hearing the Lord say to go another way.
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So I’m going to ask you again…who told you? To truly pursue after what God has for you, you must detox from the desires that are not your own. Selah.