Hey Everyone,
Some recent conversations here in the threads had me pondering something I've thought about for a long time. What is the difference between people having high self-confidence -- and just plain being delusional?
What I mean is, what is the difference between being confident in who you are in Christ and who you are as a person, but having expectations that border on pure fantasy?
Let's look at the movie, "The Fifth Element," as a case study.
View attachment 277734
In this film, Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis,) is assigned to an undercover mission:
View attachment 277735
The miliary tells him they are assigning a female officer to pose as his wife:
View attachment 277736
But you see, Korben has already met Leeloo (Milla Jovovich):
View attachment 277737
And as could be predicted, he quickly evades the military officers in order to pursue Leeloo instead.
This is the scientist in charge of Leeloo's when she was brought under government watch. The actor playing this character is only 1 year older than Bruce Willis (Korben.)
View attachment 277738
Let's look at some real-life age differences between the actors playing these characters:
1. Bruce Willis (Korben) is 20 years older than Milla Jovovich (Leeloo.)
2. Bruce Willis is 9 years older than the actress (Julie T. Wallace) playing the military woman assigned to be his wife. Both women are younger, but Milla is MUCH younger, and so it seems that the military woman who was to pose as his wife is much closer in age, and, perhaps, more "socially appropriate." But obviously... This woman looks a bit... different... than Leeloo.
3. Christopher Fairbank (the scientist) is 1 year older than Bruce Willis -- so they're practically the same age. If age alone were the determining factor, both of these men should have an equal shot at winning Leeloo over.
But we all know who the younger, hotter woman winds up with:
Now of course, there are all kinds of other factors at play here, most notably personal preferences. Some people might not find any of these people attractive; some might be attracted to the more everyday-looking ones -- because we all know everyone has different tastes.
But here's my point -- we all know, or have known, people around us (or even ourselves) who look like the military wife and the scientist.
But we also all know a woman who might look like the military wife -- pretty, but not society's "ideal" -- but she thinks she's going to land a Bruce Willis (Korben Dallas.)
And we all know a man who looks like the scientist -- handsome, but also not society's "ideal" -- but he thinks he's going to score a Leeloo (a younger, much hotter woman.)
The "military wife" and the "scientist" might be much closer in age and much closer to each other on the attractiveness "scale", but chances are high that many people like this won't want each other. Rather, they are each going to pass over anyone like themselves, and keep on looking for their Bruce Willis or for their Leeloo. This will be doubly so if they are Christian, because they will believe that God wants only "THE BEST" for them, and they will believe that the best means whatever they want most. Most don't realize, or won't admit, that God's best for us is often much different than what we think is the best.
And, chances are, a lot people like this are going to experience a lot of heartache in the process -- often growing bitter that they haven't found the man or woman of their dreams.
If we were more realistic about ourselves and what we attract, would we spare ourselves a lot of grief?
(Continued in Post #2 to Make This Easier to Read.)
Some recent conversations here in the threads had me pondering something I've thought about for a long time. What is the difference between people having high self-confidence -- and just plain being delusional?
What I mean is, what is the difference between being confident in who you are in Christ and who you are as a person, but having expectations that border on pure fantasy?
Let's look at the movie, "The Fifth Element," as a case study.
View attachment 277734
In this film, Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis,) is assigned to an undercover mission:
View attachment 277735
The miliary tells him they are assigning a female officer to pose as his wife:
View attachment 277736
But you see, Korben has already met Leeloo (Milla Jovovich):
View attachment 277737
And as could be predicted, he quickly evades the military officers in order to pursue Leeloo instead.
This is the scientist in charge of Leeloo's when she was brought under government watch. The actor playing this character is only 1 year older than Bruce Willis (Korben.)
View attachment 277738
Let's look at some real-life age differences between the actors playing these characters:
1. Bruce Willis (Korben) is 20 years older than Milla Jovovich (Leeloo.)
2. Bruce Willis is 9 years older than the actress (Julie T. Wallace) playing the military woman assigned to be his wife. Both women are younger, but Milla is MUCH younger, and so it seems that the military woman who was to pose as his wife is much closer in age, and, perhaps, more "socially appropriate." But obviously... This woman looks a bit... different... than Leeloo.
3. Christopher Fairbank (the scientist) is 1 year older than Bruce Willis -- so they're practically the same age. If age alone were the determining factor, both of these men should have an equal shot at winning Leeloo over.
But we all know who the younger, hotter woman winds up with:
Now of course, there are all kinds of other factors at play here, most notably personal preferences. Some people might not find any of these people attractive; some might be attracted to the more everyday-looking ones -- because we all know everyone has different tastes.
But here's my point -- we all know, or have known, people around us (or even ourselves) who look like the military wife and the scientist.
But we also all know a woman who might look like the military wife -- pretty, but not society's "ideal" -- but she thinks she's going to land a Bruce Willis (Korben Dallas.)
And we all know a man who looks like the scientist -- handsome, but also not society's "ideal" -- but he thinks he's going to score a Leeloo (a younger, much hotter woman.)
The "military wife" and the "scientist" might be much closer in age and much closer to each other on the attractiveness "scale", but chances are high that many people like this won't want each other. Rather, they are each going to pass over anyone like themselves, and keep on looking for their Bruce Willis or for their Leeloo. This will be doubly so if they are Christian, because they will believe that God wants only "THE BEST" for them, and they will believe that the best means whatever they want most. Most don't realize, or won't admit, that God's best for us is often much different than what we think is the best.
And, chances are, a lot people like this are going to experience a lot of heartache in the process -- often growing bitter that they haven't found the man or woman of their dreams.
If we were more realistic about ourselves and what we attract, would we spare ourselves a lot of grief?
(Continued in Post #2 to Make This Easier to Read.)
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