It's Okay to Be Yourself: Embracing Your God-Given Identity

Sylvester Dixon: My name is Sylvester Dixon.
I'm from Oak Lake, Alabama.
And I just wanted to start off with a question.
And I need a few volunteers.
You guys can say this from your seats,
but how many of y'all want to be like someone else when you grow up?
You.
Who do you want to be like?
Your grandfather.
Your grandfather.
Who do you want to be like?
grandma growing up you know lebron james okay basketball team you know there's someone i've
always wanted to be like and those of you who know me you know that i love characters in the bible
there's someone that i've always wanted to be like and can anyone guess who that is anyone
Jesus besides Jesus who Ezekiel nah
growing up you know there's this person I always look up to and he's my dad and I've always wanted
to be like my dad like you know my dad he's a real man of God you know he literally he knows the word
of God.
Like, he preaches the Word of God,
and that's something I've always admired.
And, you know,
he's someone I've always looked up to.
So,
y'all give a round of applause to my dad.
Me and my dad, we like to go on walks,
and I remember one day,
me and my dad,
you know, we like
to walk about four miles, and we just talk about God the entire time.
And on this walk,
me and my
You know,
he's just talking about Jesus and my uncle he happened to drive by so he gets out the car
He starts talking to my dad and then he he just randomly asked me like who do you want to be?
And my first answer was Jesus.
That's the first person I said I want to be like but then
He said well besides Jesus I said I looked at my day, you know, I said I want to be like my dad and you know
My dad he kind of looked at me, you know,
like he has something to say, but he didn't say he just smiled
So we ended up walking and then fast forward to next Sunday.
My dad preaches an entire sermon and the message of his sermon was being yourself.
And I can kind of tell who he was talking about.
Like, you know,
he was like he was looking at me the whole time while he was talking.
So I was like,
OK,
you know,
and then so he looks at me from the pulpit.
He says,
son, I thank you that you want to be like me,
but I just want you to be yourself.
So that's just what I encourage you all to do.
Look at someone to your left and say, it's okay to be yourself.
Look at someone to your right and say, it's okay to be yourself.
A lot of times we like to...
Okay,
hold up.
We like to be like other people,
like LeBron, our grandparents,
our dad.
A lot of times, I've always wanted to be like my dad.
But something that he taught me was that I can be myself,
because it's okay to be yourself.
You don't have to be someone else.
The Bible says in Exodus,
I'm sorry, Joshua 1 verse 5, it says,
As I was with Moses,
so I be with thee.
I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.
So something I love about that right there,
God, he told Moses that,
he told Joshua,
as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.
Joshua didn't have to be Moses.
Joshua,
he led the children of Israel into the promised land.
Moses,
he led the children of Israel out of Egypt.
but Joshua was still Joshua he didn't have to become Moses and I think that's something we need
to understand that you can be yourself you want to do it's good to be like other people you know and
that's good it's good to look up to people it's good to admire people it's good to want to be like
other people but I want y'all to understand that you can be yourself you don't have to you know
be anyone else there is no one else that will have your fingerprints there will never be another you
there will never be another you and I think that's something we all need to understand
let's see there we go a lot of times the question I don't know if y'all ever ask y'all that
yourself that but a lot of times people ask themselves who am I like Moses he said who am I
that I should go up into Pharaoh I think a lot of times and I don't know probably just myself but a
lot of times I'm like Lord who am I who am I where is my value where is my worth but God he told
he said that he will be with his mouth he will be with his tongue so when you don't think you're
qualified when you don't think that you're capable of doing something God makes you capable God makes
you qualified let's look at Gideon how many of y'all know who Gideon is okay okay Gideon he was
like Lord wherewithal shall I save Israel behold my family is poor in Manasseh and I am the least
in my father's house.
So Gideon, he was like,
Lord, I'm not,
you know, qualified.
How am I
supposed to save Israel?
And look at what God says.
In Judges chapter one,
sorry,
Judges chapter six,
verse 16, it says, and the Lord said unto him,
surely I will be with thee.
See,
God is with us
in times that we doubt ourselves.
How many of y'all ever doubted yourself before?
How many of y'all
ever told yourself that you're not qualified?
How many of y'all told yourself that you're not
capable,
that you need to be like someone else in order to be good?
I've told myself that throughout
my entire life,
but God,
he is what qualifies you,
amen?
It's not about like what you say about
yourself,
what others think about you. It doesn't matter your social status, how popular you are,
You know,
even if you're poor,
you know,
God,
he said, he told Gideon,
he said, I will be with you.
So I just want to encourage y'all that you can be yourself.
You don't have to be anyone else.
You don't have to fit in.
You don't have to be in the wrong group because a lot of times we forget who we are.
A lot of times we like to be like other people,
but other people,
they could have a wrong influence on you.
Other people,
you could be in the wrong group and forget your whole identity.
But I want to let you know your identity is found in Jesus Christ.
You can be yourself.
Something else I want to say is it's okay to be different.
A lot of times we all are different.
How many of y'all are in a band?
I'm just playing. I'm not in a band.
How many?
All right.
Wouldn't it be weird if everyone played the guitar?
Wouldn't it be weird if everyone played the drums?
I think diversity is a good thing.
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 12 verse 4, it says,
Now there are diversities of gifts,
but the same spirit.
So we are all different.
Every single one of us, we're different.
But diversity is cool.
It's a good thing because if you're in a band,
you're not just going to be a guitar player.
There's going to be a drummer.
There's going to be a bass guitar.
There's going to be a piano.
You know,
we come together.
So diversity is a good thing.
So I want to let you all know that just because you're different,
that's a good thing.
You should be different.
There will never be another you.
There will never be another you.
There will never be another me.
And that's something that I didn't understand when I was 13 years old.
I wanted to be my dad.
But my dad taught me that I can be myself.
And I want to let y'all know that there will never be another you.
There will never,
ever be another you.
So do what God called you to do.
And lastly, I want to say that God chose you.
Something that me and my dad was talking about is God didn't choose Daniel to be in this generation.
God didn't choose Moses to be in this generation.
God didn't choose Enoch to be in this generation.
He chose you.
He chose you.
He chose you.
He chose all of us to be in this generation.
So do what God called you to do.
Be peculiar.
Stand out.
You might do something different that I might not do.
I might do something different that you might not do.
But at the end of the day,
be who God called you to be.
And with that being said,
y'all are dismissed.
Thank you.