It is human nature that we all want to be liked. In fact, society measures the popularity of a person by the number of Facebook friends they have or how many people follow them on Twitter. You might have 1000 Facebook friends or none because it really isn’t that important to God. God isn’t counting how popular you are or how well you fit in. The truth of the matter is God doesn’t want you to fit in at all. God wants you to stand out. God wants you to stand out in fulfilling your purpose in life. God wants you to stand out by being the man or woman He created you to be and because there is not another person who can fill your shoes, the only number that counts is one! Romans 12:2 says “ Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

God has called us to be different, to stand against the grain and to be a city on a hilltop (Matthew 5:14). Be the change for a world that lacks hope. Realizing you don’t fit in is a good thing. You weren’t made to fit in. You were made to fulfill your calling in Christ.  Everybody is standing, but you must stand out. People stand out from the crowd when they do something above and beyond the call of duty. Remember Zacchaeus? Zacchaeus was desperate to see Jesus but he was small in stature and could not see above the crowd but he did something that made him stand out. He climbed a tree and this caught the attention of Jesus. Despite his limitations he was able to stand out from the crowd. To stand out will require effort on your part but you will find it is well worth it. Conformity is easy but it will take courage to stand out from the crowd.

You, too, must have a passion to fulfill your purpose that you are willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish your goal. Yearn to be outstanding, outstanding to the point that you inspire other people to become like you and want to stand out from the crowd. It’s your difference that will cause you to stand out not your similarity.  Einstein is quoting as saying that “if you follow the crowd you will go no further than the crowd.” You are uniquely unique. Don’t try to fit in. You were born to stand out.