Show Them Who You Are!

“Better to be patient than powerful; better to have self-control than to conquer a city.” Proverbs 16:32

One of the phrases from the movie Black Panther that always stuck with me was the phrase “Show them who you are!” when the new king had to fight to keep his throne. If he didn’t win, he would literally die. So he had no other choice than to use his strength to prove that he was capable of sitting in the king’s seat. Interestingly enough, there are many of us who are trying to prove that we deserve to be in the seat we are in by using our strength.

For some people, you’ve mastered the art of responding instead of reacting. You know how to handle and address a situation without showing your strength. But for many reading this, you are more prone to prove why someone shouldn’t talk to you crazy or treat you wrong. We have a tendency to want to show others our strength. We don’t want anyone to get over on us. We don’t want anyone to think they are smarter than us. We don’t want anyone to take advantage of us.

Showing our strength doesn’t always mean physically fighting. Sometimes showing our strength is shown by the words that we use or the actions that we take. Sometimes we show our strength by how we think and what we give off. But this proverb checks all of that. It makes it clear that it is better to be patient than powerful. It’s better to have self-control than to conquer a city.

Your strength is important but it’s better to have patience than to show people how much power you have. If you’re always trying to prove to others how much strength you have, you might want to check your motives because it’s almost impossible to still be focused on representing Jesus if you’re so focused on proving that you are so strong in your own power. It’s better to have and practice self-control than to be able to say that you defeated a group of people.

What causes you to show your strength? What situations arise that encourage you to prove that no one can get over on you? If we don’t learn the art of patience and self-control, we will be fighting (physically, emotionally and mentally) for the rest of our lives. I know people may disrespect you. I know people may try to make you feel intimidated. I know people may try to make you feel less than. But what are you going to respond with? Will pride be your motivation or will you show them who you really are by responding in patience and self-control? The choice is yours!