When I was younger I had a phase where I was extremely curious about myself. I wondered what my strengths were and people’s impression of me. I subsequently developed a zodiac obsession – I would look up my birthday month, its corresponding sign, and then relate with whatever generalized personality characteristics are associated with the sign. Looking back, I realize that what I was doing was useless, not to mention spiritually harmful. But the fact of the matter remains that many people rely on the zodiac to assess themselves and others. I mean, how many times have you heard a conversation like this:
– When is your birthday?
– August…
– Oh, so you are a Leo!
– I guess
– Aaah… (Nods head knowingly). You are a fiery one. You are generous and creative, but also proud and jealous.
– …
I have come to believe that once people read “their” zodiac, they deliberately begin to fulfill prophesy afterward. In other words, they assimilate what the zodiac says they should be on purpose, without considering if that person is who they really are. As I write this, I wonder who dictated that whoever is born in a certain month should be a certain way.
There is an authentic way to know who people are; and you don’t need to read the stars do it. I went on a retreat in Indiana this weekend with my Bible Study group on campus. Before the night began, we got together for an icebreaker. We each taped a sheet of paper to our backs, and went around the room writing encouraging words about each other on our backs. I initially thought I wouldn’t have much to say about people. Nor was I expecting people to have much to say about me. I had met with the group for Bible study only four times in total, so I hadn’t really built any relationships.
As I started to write however, I realized that I had connected with something in quite a number of them. And to my surprise, people had connected to something in me. I had been aware of some of the things that people had written on my back – either because I realized them myself or other people had told me before hand; But there were some positive comments about me that I had never realized. The ice breaker literally played out a Bible verse right before my eyes: You will fully know them by their fruits – Mathew 7:20
In the few hours you spend with someone, you recognize what is within just by watching how they act, or what they produce. It is surprisingly simple. When you sincerely accept God in your heart, He begins to show you (and apparently other people too) the person that He put you on earth to be. And as someone that is experiencing this in her life right now, I can confidently say that this is the “you” that you want to get in touch with. You can trust me when I say that you are a lot deeper than what the zodiac (or anyone else) says you are.