Posted by
Virginia Daddy on Tuesday, October 07, 2008 4:01:30 PM
I am not perfect, and have my own quirks. But I have been wondering why some people do certain things?
Like, for example, why does one get her nose pierced? Why does he put weird things through his neck?
I know, I know, there's nothing inherently wrong with it, but why do they choose to alter their appearance?
I could list a million things and question why people do them, but I won't list them all. I will list a few:
Why do women want to wear very revealing clothing?
Why does anyone get multiple tatoos?
What about drinking-- why might one look to alcohol to make them happy, or to alleviate stress?
Why do people enjoy getting into trouble? Get a kick out of 'breaking the law'?
Why are people so quick to look down on others?
I'll stop there... First, let me say I have done some of these things (no rings, no revealing clothe, nor tatoos, though.) But the questions I think have answers. I think the answers are in our desire to be loved and to get attention.
Sure, some will excuse the actions as doing their own thing and not conforming. OK. But why? Why does wearing decent clothes and not getting tatoos all over your neck mean you are conforming? It doesn't. One could argue that tatoos are actually conforming, as are nose rings, lip rings, belly rings, and any other type of piercing you can get. You can also argue doing those crazy things for the thrill of it is also conforming.
I don't mean to say that everyone who does these things is acting in a way to gain acceptance. But, in a sense, they are. Why does this matter? Well, it has always baffled me how far people will go to make themselves feel important. Hence that last question from my short list.
It is my belief that most people do these things to feel important. Now, 'important' here should be taken loosely. It can mean pompous, powerful, distinguished, different, its own 'thing', whatever, but all mean that the person seeks something they can say this with: "Look at me!"
Well, all too often, we (at least I do) look at these people and ask why? Really, what is it you are trying to prove? The reasons can be myriad, but I do tend to think these people (and this probably makes me guilty of that last question) are trying to prove something to someone, most likely themselves. (Also, the so called 'preppies' have their fair share of 'conformists'.
Now, here's, though, where I am ultimately going with this: there is something out there that can provide all the comfort you need. It is in Christ. Christ will lead you to that comfort, that everyone seeks. Looks don't matter, but the desire to succeed and do your best does. You have nothing to prove in Christ, because there's nothing to prove. No matter how much we try, we can not meet his expectations. But here's the glorious part of that thinking-- he looks past all that and loves us the same.
So, in the end, I wonder what all these people who-I-wonder-why-they do-what-they-do would do if they found Christ?
I imagine the world would look quite different.