Do you attempt to present your ‘finer you’? The answer is – yes. We all do, especially when meeting new people. But… is there a difference between your ‘finer’ and your ‘everyday’? Shouldn’t be. Do you know the qualities that make up your finer you? How do they differ from your everyday? Or are the everyday’s an ‘in process’ to become the finer? Not irrelevant or puerile questions. I would suspect that we all attempt to present our better or finer selves to the world we live in. The question is, what’s the connect between the typical, everyday you and the better, finer you?
What qualities/attitudes/behaviors, for you, makes up your finer you? And, where are you on the ‘typical to finer’ continuum? Is there any reality to your finer? Is it ‘in your nature’ to attain this state? Or do you look at your ‘finer’ and decide it’s too much trouble to work to develop, so you’ll only bring it out when you want (need) to? No one can force you to ‘work on’ you, to become the best you, you can be. This is always a choice and there is a cost regardless of your decision.
Your finer you is based in some of the qualities you already have or have developed in you. That’s one of the realities (and reliefs). But sometimes we can become so intent on ‘improving’ that we begin to reinvent the wheel (not realize the foundation on which we can build). That is a waste of time but it is also not growing from a position of knowledge. Thus, taking a hard, serious but fair look at who we are and who we want to be has to become our initial step. Besides, if you don’t know who it is you want to become, how do you know if you’re on the path to attain your ‘finer’?
None of us are perfect. We are all on our way… it’s a journey as much as a destination. We can all improve, become ‘better’ but none of us can move in the direction of our finer without a foundation in the author of perfect. We read in Matthew 5:48 that we are to be perfect. However, without knowing how the Lord defines ‘perfect’ and what is entailed in this, we won’t be able to attain our finer self. We may not be able to attain the fullness of our finer self, but we can grow in this. And remember… He never asks us to do or be something we can’t.
