Running to the Wrong Finish Line

In 2019, Simone Biles stood before reporters at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships and said something that reframed her entire career. She had just performed two moves never before attempted by a woman in competition. When asked about chasing records, she replied simply: "I'm not the next Usain Bolt. I'm the first Simone Biles."

For years, the gymnastics world had tried to define her by comparison — the next Nadia, the next Mary Lou. Commentators measured her against the legends who came before. But Biles refused to wear a borrowed identity. She understood that running toward someone else's legacy meant running away from her own.

We do this in our spiritual lives more often than we realize. We look at the Christian down the pew whose prayer life seems effortless, the leader whose faith appears unshakable, and we think, "I should be more like them." We try to fit ourselves into molds the Almighty never designed for us.

But the apostle Paul reminds us that we are God's poiema — His workmanship, His masterpiece — "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand" (Ephesians 2:10). The Most High did not create you to be a replica of someone else's calling. He crafted you with a purpose that only your particular life, your particular voice, your particular story can fulfill.

You are not the next anybody. You are the first you. And that is exactly who God made you to be.