Striving after the unattainable?

I once saw a picture of a marmot. This marmot, read, with a furrowed brow, a book with the title: How do I become a lion? Many people are similar to this marmot.

However, the furrowed brow and serious look of the marmot hit the nail on its head: How strenuous and sombre it is to always want to be the greatest, the cleverest, the smartest, the one who is always right?

It is not easy to accept yourself just the way you are. However, it is necessary! I can't really live, if I always have to stretch myself beyond my abilities and are always under pressure to be different than the way I am.

But, should a Christian not live exactly in this manner? It is said: He must always do and act, make an effort and go the extra mile. One must especially do things one doesn't really want to do (Jonah did not want to go to the town Nineveh). The harder, the better, the more devout, so it is often said. No wonder that Christians often have the expression of a marmot: stressed, bitter, joyless.

However God said: Take every person as he is! He doesn't want us to strive after the unattainable. Adam and Eve started to do so early on. When He loves me and I can accept myself for that reason, I should first look at my own talents, that which I enjoy and which gives me joy. This is acting in accordance with the Gospel.

Nothing is of more or of less value when you are a Christian. As a Christian, every skill and every deed is valuable, when it is done in the manner that Jesus showed us: in responsibility towards each other, righteous and human. Great is not that which is extraordinary, but that which is done in love.

Gundi Hornbruch