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One of the issues I've had for a while is I felt as if being a disciple of Christ meant "dummying" myself down from my educated mindset, which therefore explains why I didn't like the "image" of being a Christ follower. Growing up under the influence of a religious spirit, coupled with the other "norms" of the AA church, is what made me run away from it, especially with the hurt I received from others in that ministry at the time. This caused me to fight against the image as hard as I could once I broke free from the spirit of religiosity. In the midst of this, God also revealed to me that while He gave me the intelligence I have, there are times where I will need to place it secondarily to my spiritual relationship with Him. Basically, just let Him flow in my life! He can and will do what no man can truly comprehend, so I just have to allow Him to do it.

So in essence, my natural intelligence has served as a spiritual block from what God really wants to do in my life, and as a result, I have vowed to fully and wholeheartedly put my trust in Him. Now, in the authority of the Kingdom I can (and will) cast those thoughts down that try to over-intellectualize God, especially from a natural standpoint. I also repented to the Father for doing this in my past, but now I no longer am ashamed of how being a Christ follower will "wreck my image" because being a true disciple of Christ! A true disciple is not concerned about the stereotypes that may be associated with this identity in Christ, but about allowing God to search their hearts and reflect His image that is within us.

Finally, I realized that our personalities do not have to be placed in a box just because of the negative stereotypes that may exist within Christianity, but we can truly serve God with our whole heart and over time those stereotypes will dissipate and the truth will be revealed to those on the outside looking in.

I'm just so thankful for this revelation from God, for it has made it that much easier for me to receive Him for who He truly is! Glory to God!

Deondra Jenkins