Many of us often feel jealous of others in some way or another. Maybe we're jealous of their looks, their status, their wealth, or their skill sets. We feel the need to be more like others because they seem "better" than we are. The thing we often fail to realize is that by wanting to be like other people and wanting the things they have, we neglect our own gifts.

There is not one person on this earth who God doesn't know and hasn't gifted with abilities of some kind. Some people are given the gift of communication, some people can sing like no one else, and some people are able to love on others in a way that is beyond comprehension. When people use these things for their intended purpose, to glorify God, others can't help but notice.

This is a beautiful thing until people begin to want the giftings they don't have. They think what someone else has is better than what they have been given, so they choose to neglect their own gift in pursuit of another one.

Let me tell you right now- God doesn't make mistakes. And He wouldn't have given us each unique gifts if He didn't intend for us to use them.

When you become so infatuated with another person and what they have, you completely miss out on the person God has called YOU to be. You spend so much time trying to gain things beyond your reach that you don't ever try to develop the gifts that God has given YOU. And it's an absolute shame.

God didn't create a world full of the same- people who look the same, act the same or feel the same. He created a diverse world and gave each creation a different and unique role, so many things could be accomplished.

When we neglect our own roles and gifts, we neglect who God has called us to be. We try to fill the world with more of the same when God has called us to be unique and use the talents He has given us (rather than the talents He has given others).

Can you imagine what could happen if we chose to embrace our own individuality and the abilities God instilled in us? Can you imagine how much could be accomplished if we all stopped trying to be the same person?

Stop trying to live in someone else's shoes and become more familiar with your own shoes. Find those unique gifts and talents YOU have and put them to use- not for your own selfish ambition, but to glorify God and bring others to Him. Choose to be the person He has called you to be and embrace the fact that that person might be vastly different from the rest of the world.

We are all given a choice- the choice to accept and thrive in the life God has planned for us, or to turn away from it in the pursuit of what others have.

Choose to be who He has called you to be.