“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2. . . I’ve never been one to fit in much…in almost every setting/community/environment I’ve been in for as long as I can remember, I’ve always felt like a bit of an oddball. A stand alone. Whatever you wanna call it. For the most part it doesn’t bother me, but every so often, it can be hard not to want to feel accepted and approved by others. It becomes tempting to want to meet others’ expectations or standards, to allow their words/thoughts/opinions shape and influence how I behave or feel. . . Especially as I dancer, there are times when I feel like my entire self is on display, that every part of me—head-to-toe, inside-out—is being calculatingly judged and critiqued by others, is being expected to perform and/or measure up to some ideal or standard deemed “acceptable”/“pleasing”. But who am I trying to please? Who am I looking to for approval? . . We are so prone to look to our peers for cues as to what is “good” and “pleasing”…but are those standards really found/met in people, or in God? What would it look like to allow our bodies and our lives to be submitted to GOD’s standards, not the systems and standards of the world? To allow ourselves to be approved, not by other people, but by our Creator, God Himself? . . #prayerjourney #foodforthought #quiettime #dailybread #devotional #romans12 #holyandpleasing #livingsacrifice #transformed #byHislove #ourCreator #Heispleased #accepted #inHiseyes #believer #dancer #daughter #vessel