“The correlation between being outside of our comfort zone and growth are significantly imperative to our inner growth and change.” -Rashad Cohen
The question everybody is asking, “Why’d you shave your beard?” The majority guessed I didn’t want bugs crawling in it while I’m on the field doing missionary work. Or I shaved it because I will be in hot places such as, Central America and Africa. I shake my head and reply, “nah” to both guesses, “the truth is I needed change.” They proceed to just stare. And it never fails that I crack a big ol’ Kool-Aid smile and repeat myself…
…. I just needed change. How many of us get tired of our daily routines or just life in general? If you do, how many of us take action and change up what we have become accustomed to from time to time? It can all become mundane and habitual if you allow it to. Change can be very beneficial for our growth, but it can also be one of the toughest actions to actually commit to. Change is the type of action that causes us to step out of our comfort zone and walk in an unfamiliar territory at times. We as humans love familiarity, that’s how some people can live in a town they were born in until the day they die without ever exploring this world. Some of you may have heard me say this before; our growth lies outside of our comfort zone. Can you think of a particular circumstance or situation where you grew tremendously while being COMFORTABLE? I can’t. In recollection, all the moments that have led to personal growth were the moments where I thought, “I don’t know about this, this is outside of my comfort zone” before actually committing to it. These are the types of situations that stretch us mentally, physically, or spiritually. If you look in the Bible, all of God’s followers were stretched and called outside of their comfort zone. Prime example; my man Jesus Christ. This was a man that was called so much outside of His comfort zone that he experienced hematohidrosis, which is a rare condition where a human sweats blood due to extreme physical or emotional stress! He experienced hematohidrosis while praying in the garden of Gethsemane before his crucifixion, “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” Luke 22:44. Surely if Jesus Christ can be stretched so far out of his comfort zone that he is sweating blood from stress, then surely we can handle stepping out of our worldly comfort zone!
Some of you may be thinking that’s a little bit of a stretch isn’t it Rashad? Well that’s the point!! I need you all to see the power of being stretched outside of our comfort zone. The correlation between being outside of our comfort zone and growth are significantly imperative to our inner growth and change. If God didn’t stretch His son out of His comfort zone; our sins wouldn’t be paid for, we wouldn’t be saved by grace, we wouldn’t have a personal relationship with Him through the Holy Spirit, etc. Now do you see the big picture? It’s all because of one man that stepped out of His comfort zone for YOU AND ME!
Okayyyy…that’s cool Rashad but what does this have to do with you shaving your beard? It has everything to do with me shaving my beard! What if I told you that there was a man hiding behind his beard? A man that grew to be prideful because of his beard? A man that dealt with lust due to his beard? That was me! I literally took pride in my beard. Just about everyday somebody would compliment it. Some women would glorify it, “That is the nicest beard I’ve ever seen, can I touch it?” My confidence grew because of all of this in an unhealthy way. I would subconsciously block it out, even though I knew that was the case. But that voice started to speak louder and louder to me to the point where I dreamt about shaving my beard for a fresh start. I was scared to take action and change my look due to all the reasons I stated above. The questions: What if women don’t think I’m handsome? What if I don’t feel as confident? What if I don’t get compliments now? And it dawned on me, all of these questions were self-centered. I’m an analytical thinker thinker and a reflector, so I thought about why I was such afraid of change. And it hit me, a lot of my identity was rooted in self and not God. It was all misconceived lies I was telling myself who I wouldn’t be if I didnt have a face full of hair (it‘s crazy when I really sit back and think about it!). For my women, imagine if you cut off all of your hair. You may feel as if a part of your identity has left, leading you to believe you are less worthy, or beautiful without it. I had to speak life and affirmations over myself because I didn’t like what was being revealed during the process of my self-evaluation.
I believe sometimes we can hide behind our own insecurities and lies for so long, that we start to believe them and become attached to whatever it is that we are hiding behind. One way these insecurities will be revealed is if we look in the mirror and be real with ourselves. We must take action and commit to change. This is where many of us fall short; the fear of change. However, if we speak truth and understand we were created in HIS image, it doesn’t matter the lies the enemy whispers in our ear. God said we are uniquely and wonderfully made! So when I looked myself in the mirror while shaving my beard, I spoke TRUTH over myself. It was symbolic for commitment and change. This action that may be so minute to all, was transformational for me in the spirtual realm. So I challenge you all to build up enough confidence and face your insecurities head on without being afraid of stepping outside your comfort zone! It’s time to grow!
