Orange is my favorite color. It's been my favorite color since the year before I got married - 2006. Before that it was teal for as far as I can remember back. However, once I saw the movie Devil Wears Prada, and the scene about the "Cerulean Sweater" (watch it: http://www.hulu.com/watch/12450/the-devil-wears-prada-corn-chowder), I began to rethink my opinion of the color orange and why it was my favorite. Do I like Orange because I chose it or did something else set me up for it?
As we grow up and older, it's inevitable that we will change. Our society in America is grand, therefore having presence. There is weight in this presence, in turn, leaving impressions. Influence and manipulation is the foundation for today's world, not leaving much room for truth. We tend to base our decisions upon what others claim to work or be correct, instead of seeking it out for ourselves or accepting what we have and being content with it. For a society that is made up of opinions and loud voices, we are quick to be fooled and quieted. So how do we decipher what kind of change we are to accept in our lives?
Honest change comes from obedience. Obedience to God. Being obedient brings about change that can be trusted as truth and that embodies a future. Trust in Christ will bring about choices that transform our lives, not just get us by until the next best thing that society claims will make you happier and more accepted. It is through God's plan that we will succeed and survive this world - and be fully prepared for the next one.
So, just to clarify, I'm not talking about the changes regarding favorite color or hair style that give us a fresh start or boost in enthusiasm, but rather the changes in today's world that are not worth keeping up with. The ones that leave impressions on us that do no good for our spiritual health and well being. We often times feel the need to keep up with life's societal influence, but the reality is, society doesn't always have the most honest and innocent motives - making things a bit cloudy and hard to navigate through.
We are going to be changing every year through every new experience. I believe it really is inevitable. But do it right, and accordingly. Give yourself a foundation to build upon. Society is built from people and people are wrong sometimes, mean sometimes, and down right disappointing sometimes.
Something to think about, the next time you are worried about being accepted by and correctly aligned with what the world and our society is reforming to. Change isn't compromise.
