To Reach Your Dream, Dare to Be Different By Rick Warren
“Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God.”Genesis 6:9 (NLT)
If you want to fulfill your destiny—if you want to achieve your God-given dream, vision, or ambition—you must dare to be different from your culture.
Until you settle this, you’ll never reach your dreams. You can’t fit in and be different or make a difference at the same time. You have to decide: “I’m willing to be different from the culture”—because the culture is headed one way, and God is heading another.
In Noah’s time, humanity hit rock bottom. It was morally bankrupt.
Genesis 6:12 says, “God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt” (NLT).
Sound familiar? Genesis 6:5-6 adds, “The LORD observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. . . . It broke his heart” (NLT).
Just 10 generations into human history, the world was already consumed by sin and evil.
What’s the trend today? Is the world moving toward God or away from him? It’s clear—it’s moving away. Jesus warned: “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day” (Luke 17:26 NLT).
Culture will only worsen as we approach Christ’s return.
Amid this darkness, God saw one bright spot: Noah. In The Message paraphrase, Genesis 6:8 says, “But Noah was different. GOD liked what he saw in Noah” (MSG).
That phrase—“but Noah”—saved the world. Would God save the world because of your faithfulness? If God looked at today’s corruption, would he see a bright spot and say, “But [your name]”?
Could God save the world through you?
Only two people have saved the world: Noah physically and Jesus spiritually. And, by the way, you’re related to Noah. Trace your family tree far enough, and you’ll find him.
What set Noah apart? He wasn’t concerned with others’ opinions, approval, or trends. He dared to be different to fulfill his destiny—and so must you. If you blend in with the crowd, you can’t fulfill the calling God has placed on your life.
Great people march to a different beat. They’re unafraid to stand out. Remember this: You can only make a difference by being different.
This is what God desires: to look at your life and smile, saying, “That’s my child fulfilling their destiny.” Like Noah, live with integrity. Let your difference make a difference.
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