You hear a lot these days in the blogging world about building a tribe. I understand authors and businesses needing a tribe. I get it. There are those who have done this well and seem to have a proper perspective about it all.
Can I tell you something, though? I don’t want a tribe. And more than that? I don’t need a tribe.
For me personally, it’s too easy to find my value, my worth, in what I do. And blogging and social media magnify that a great deal. Yes, it’s nice to be praised and complimented. We all need encouragement. I think it’s too easy, though, to base our worth on how popular or how many compliments we get. At least it is for me.
I don’t need a tribe to know my worth is based in Him. Because let me tell you a secret that’s really not a secret.
It’s not about me.
God is teaching me to not forget that these gifts come from Him. When I forget, I lose the joy of the gifts He has given me.
When I write, when I paint, when I make things, when I use this gift of craftsmanship, and when I serve my church with this as well as the gift of administration, they are not about me. I only have these gifts because He gives them. When I lose sight that these gifts are from Him, that every word I write, every painting I paint, every photograph I take, I begin placing too much value on how well I do these things instead of Whose I am.
A perspective that is all too easy to forget.
These gifts are nothing if I’m not doing them for the one who gave them to me. I don’t want to use them to receive compliments or praise even though those are great to receive. I don’t want to use them to build a tribe.
I want to use my gifts to lead others to Him. I want them to know that I only paint because He gives me the vision and ability. I want them to know that I only write because He gives the words. I want them to know when I take a photograph it is only because He shows me His glory in His creation.
Because in the end, it’s not about me. It’s about Him.
