As kids, we played a game called Follow the Leader and whatever the leader did, we did. If the leader ran around in a circle, we ran around in a circle; if the leader stood on one leg in a corner, we stood on one leg in a corner; if the leader jumped off the highest limb in the tree, we jumped off the highest limb in the tree, and so on….
As we grew older, some of us realized that following the leader wasn’t always right the thing to do. That didn’t mean that what the leader did was wrong; it just wasn’t the path that we were to travel. We began to see more clearly that everything the leader did didn’t make sense as to what our lives called for. The leader symbolically can represent friends, trends, family, etc. As I rode into work this morning, I was listening to a message by T.D. Jakes and he said that because we don’t truly know who we are and recognize our own value that we begin to define our worth by dressing in certain designer clothing and following suit with whatever comes, because that is a sign of status. BUT – who are you?
As kids playing follow the leader, we obtained the same outcome as the leader, unless we weren’t strong enough to accomplish some of the same feats or if we did accomplish that feat, we may not have been strong enough to handle the consequences of the actions. Well, it’s the same way if you play follow the leader as an adult. You may not be able to stomach what I can stomach and you not be able to handle the consequences (good or bad) by following my actions.
While it is okay to have a degree of like mindedness and to associate with people who hold the same values, morals, work ethics, etc. as you do – you do not have to do exactly what they do. Hear God for yourself; do what is best for you; live the life that God has designed specifically for you.
“We must be able to trust God’s choices for our lives.”
– Michelle McKinney Hammond
