Do you ever feel like someone is trying to mould you into something you're not?

Whether it is a friend, or a partner, or a spouse, or a parent... you feel you are being squeezed into a set mould.   You feel like the other person has set in THEIR mind what kind of person YOU should be.

It hurts. Nothing seems good enough, nothing seems right.  It feels like you spend your days being 'fixed', being 'changed', being 'moulded' like a tub of Plasticine.

Guidance is a good thing, direction and accountablity are good things, but this is different... this is someone else changing you - not because you need changed but because you are not the way they want you.

This is being treated like a Plasticine Person.

We have been celebrating Christmas this Sunday - the birth of Jesus.  If there is one person who knows what it is like to be treated as a Plasticine Person it's him.  He grew up to cause a right stir amongst the religious leaders of the time.  They tried to mould him, but he wasn't the sort of guy to be easily pushed around - so instead they killed.

The problem is, we still try to do it.  It is easier to have a Plasticine version of Jesus.  A 'Jesus' that is just 'nice'.  But the baby Jesus grew up... and he grew up to cause a stir.  This Christmas why not read the Gospel of Mark and remind yourself what the REAL Jesus is like.