Have you ever felt like there was a time where you had to prove yourself? Where you had to show the world what you are made of? We live in a world where this is a constant reality we face, with one uppers and strong personalities that always think they are right (I can be that at times). If you have a talent what do people ask you to do? Prove it. Mythbusters is one of those shows that comes to mind when I think of proving. They take common myths to try and prove them as a fact or a myth. We have this constant need to know whether these myths are truth or false. It is almost like we need these things in our life to be proved in order for us to live. This desire to prove ourselves is not that much different than us wanting to prove a point or to have proof of what we are saying is true. We try so hard to prove ourself, and for what?

As a woman in ministry, I am constantly needing to prove myself and my knowledge of the Bible. There are always people questioning me in the role that I am in or why I am going to school to study the Bible. Some people tell me that in order to prove myself I have to be the louder voice or make sure what I am saying has been thought out and worth value. Trying to continually prove myself to others is exhausting. I found myself trying to answer the question why do I write, why do I do this blog? Why do I spend time with my outfits and writing this if I feel like no body will read it. There is no reason it should be like this. Does God make us prove ourselves in order to be called a Christian?

“Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

— John 20:30-31

I wonder how this works with the Lord. I look at Jesus for the example of someone who had to constantly prove himself as the Son of God. Jesus was always proving himself through his miracles and strange teachings. I was reading through John and we see at the end of chapter 20 that Jesus revealed himself through his miracles and words. The beginning of chapter 21 starts with the disciples fishing and not catching anything. Jesus shows up, unrecognizable to them and tells the men to cast the net on the right side of the boat. Without question the men then throw the net to the right side and are flooded with an abundant amount of fish that they can't even haul them in. They knew this sign was Jesus because of what He had said before. "That you will see miraculous signs that will reveal my name".

If the Lord had to prove himself so much to the people around us, shouldn't we have to prove our talent to the world? This is something I have been thinking through. Is proving yourself a good thing or a bad thing? I still am struggling with that! When you look at the life of Jesus, he was proving himself to bring people to him and giving life to others through his proof of life. On the other hand, in our world proving ourselves has become a competition or "claiming your territory" battle. Where can we find a balance? I am still in search for this balance, but I know that God knows us for who we are. We don't have to prove ourselves to God because He knows who we are and what we are going to do.

When we live to prove, we lose the point of living. We are in constant fear that our point can't be heard or our job isn't being done effectively. Sometimes I wonder if the best thing to do is to step aside and let God do the proving for us. Isn't that what we can take from Jesus' life? Every time he performed a miracle he gave the glory to God, in the end of his life he didn't have to prove that he was free of guilt, Pilate knew he was not found guilty, yet they still decided to crucify him. I would love to hear more thoughts on what you think of proving yourself and if it is necessary.

The only time I feel 100% comfortable without proving myself is when I am around those that I love and know who I am. Maybe that is the cure to this idea of proving yourself. Spending time with others. When you walk through life together you tend to understand someone without having to prove yourself. This is what I value in relationship.

Proof is in the Pudding