Sassy is my name

 I've been called a lot of things, had lots of different words used to describe my personality, but new my favorite is "sassy." Tonight during youth group we were talking about me recovering from being sick and I stated that I'm still so tired and the youth pastor said "don't worry, you'll be back to your sassy self soon." I instantly took inventory...is that me? am I sassy? is that a good quality? is this something I should work to rid myself of? and so on.

Interestingly enough we are talking with the students right now about their S.H.A.P.E and how that fits into God's plan for them. Spiritual gifts, Heart (passions), Abilities, Personality, Experiences. Sassy is certainly part of my personality and just as the Apostle Paul had qualities that dueled with good and bad, so do I. Sassy is both good and bad. Romans 8:28 is often quoted when something bad happens in a person's life. But I think it also applies to things like our personality traits.

I'm a lot to handle. My personality is demanding, strong, loud, overwhelming, and sassy to name a few. I also cry easily, get flustered instead of remain calm, talk when I should be quiet, and often I think I'm right. But God promises to use all things (including our personalities) for good, not that they are all good, but He'll work it out so that my sassy personality will be tamed in such a way that it's for good.

I also know how to stand up for myself, I trust my instincts, I seek wise counsel instead of acting on impulse, I am light-hearted, generous, quick to forgive, and pretty darn funny. My sassy is something I have to harness, sometimes I do that well, sometimes I don't. But the wonderful thing is God is using it for good by working through people to be mirrors to me, letting me know when to tame it down, when to bring it out.

I like me. I'm comfortable in my skin. I don't have an attitude that says "if you don't like me I don't care, I'll just be alone" and I also don't have an attitude that says "tell me how to be so you'll like me." I fall in the middle and frankly I'm a work in progress and I'm totally ok with that.

My challenge to you...analyze your SHAPE, be gut-level honest about things like your personality and then allow God to mold you in ways He sees fit (understanding the molding won't always feel good and it certainly won't always be easy) because at the end of the day it's not about us, it's about God and if things like our personality gets in the way of God shining then we are failing God.