Become More
Study The Word
Matthew 13:55, 57-58 (KJV)
“Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not His mother called Mary?… And they were offended in Him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in His own country, and in His own house. And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”
Let me talk to you about a very particular kind of prison: the prison of other people’s limitations. It is so easy to end up living within the ceiling that people have placed over you, especially the people closest to you. The ones who saw your beginning. The ones who watched your upbringing and your development. The ones who knew you in your unhealed state, when you were riddled with fears and worries about “what will people say,” stuck in patterns of people-pleasing, having learned somewhere along the way to feel safe only in the shadows.
Can I be honest with you? Sometimes we learned to make ourselves small and palatable as children because the adults and caregivers in our lives simply did not know how to affirm us to be the light we were created to be. And so we grew up shackled under a low ceiling, the ceiling of what everyone in our family, our community, our background has always done. And the moment you try to do something different, the moment you step out from under that ceiling and go against the status quo, it suddenly becomes problematic. It makes people uncomfortable.
I know exactly what this feels like. I know that place where the old conditioning rises up and makes you afraid to become more, afraid to become all that the Lord actually created you to be. It can feel as though everything is conspiring to talk you out of who you truly are: the walls around you, the poverty, the environment, the people. And listen, this is precisely where the enemy wants you. He wants you kept small and second-guessing. He wants you believing that you are not really born again, that you are not truly called, that God has not actually chosen you for a specific plan and purpose. Those are lies, every one of them.
So let me take you to Someone who walked through this exact experience, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He went back to His own home town. He read from the Scriptures, He moved in the miraculous, and how did the people respond? They took offence at Him. “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” they asked. Do you see it? They could not see past the box they had always kept Him in. The very people who watched Him grow up tried to place a ceiling over His development. Jesus faced the same questioning of His identity that you may be facing right now.
Sit with the word for what happened there:
σκανδαλίζω skandalizō offended – to cause to stumble, to entrap; from the trigger-stick of a snare.
Do you understand how serious that is? Their offence was not a harmless reaction. It functioned like a trap, a snare set to make Him stumble and stay small. And look closely at how Jesus responded, because it is so striking. He did not stay and argue for their approval. He recognised that He could not remain in a place that had become spiritually dangerous to His calling, so He left. And then He simply continued to fulfil His purpose in the Lord. He did not abandon who He was; He relocated so that He could keep becoming who He was sent to be.
Now let me be tender here, because I know this hurts. When the people who should have celebrated you instead place a ceiling over you, it is genuinely painful and disappointing. But you need to remember something: purpose, identity, and becoming more all come at a cost. Growth is not always comfortable, and it is not always applauded. If you have ever faced this while simply trying to improve yourself and become all that God wants you to be, please do not give up. Do not let the human nature and the shortcomings of others define your limits. Gently ignore the ceiling, and keep becoming who God has called you to be.
Because hear this: God never designed you to stay inside the box that people, or even you, built around your identity. You are allowed to evolve. You are allowed to heal. You are allowed to become. And your growth is not a betrayal of who you used to be. It is faithfulness to who you are called to be. So you have full permission, full and holy permission, to grow, to stretch, and to become more. Hallelujah!
Pray The Word
Heavenly Father, thank You that You never meant for me to live under the ceiling that people, or even I, placed over my identity. Where old conditioning and the offence of others have made me afraid to become more, set me free, and heal the wounds underneath the fear. Thank You that even Jesus faced this and kept walking in His purpose. Give me that same courage to keep becoming who You called me to be. I refuse the lie that I am not chosen; I am born again, I am called, and I have full permission to grow, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Speak The Word
God did not design me to stay inside anyone’s box, and I refuse to live under a ceiling He never placed. I am allowed to evolve, allowed to heal, and allowed to become. My growth is not disloyalty to who I was; it is faithfulness to who I am called to be. I will not let the offence or the limitations of others talk me out of my purpose. I am chosen, I am called, and I have full permission to become more, in the name of Jesus Christ!
Soul Wellness: An Introduction To Receiving Healing In Your Heart
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