Have You Been Verified?

So, I was on Twitter yesterday and scrolling through the feed of a new actress, and her followers were excited because she'd finally gotten her blue check mark. For those of us who are not avid Twitter users, the unmistakable blue check mark next to a User's name (usually a VIP- celebrity, government official, religious leader, industry-leading business, etc.) means that Twitter has officially verified that that User is who they say they are. They have checked into this person's authenticity and can confirm that the credentials match. This blue check mark is used by Twitter as a resource for Twitter users to help gauge the utility of information coming from that particular account. 

Another interesting tidbit about the "blue check" is that a User cannot simply REQUEST that Twitter verifies them. They can't go "Hey...look at me, I'm important, verify me!" No, it doesn't work that way. They state in their FAQs that if you meet their qualifications and fall under the categories they have already established, you will hear from them. They encourage you to continue meaningful use and when the time is right, they will reach out. They also make a special note that "follower count" has no bearings as to whether a User can be verified. Now I'm no preacher, but God has been speaking to me lately on not second-guessing my gift. Coming across that simple collection of tweets yesterday, and thinking about the whole "being verified" scenario really put it in perspective.


Simply put, when God gives you a gift and verifies you, there are no other steps that have to be taken, other than you continuing on in your gift. Also, just because you see this person over here doing the same thing and they have a multitude of "followers", it does not mean that they have a gift, it simply means that they are popular. Having grown up in the church, one of the things I have heard time and time again is that "God doesn't necessarily call the qualified, He qualifies the called." Time after time, I have downplayed my talents, talked myself out of situations, been self-deprecating, self-defeating and missed out on wonderful opportunities, simply because I didn't feel that I was good enough to do it. I felt that SOMEONE would "find me out" and say that I didn't deserve x, y or z because I haven't gone through the traditional steps or channels. I'm sitting out here waiting on all these other people to verify my gift, when their validation should be the least of my concerns! When God verifies you, He is telling you, "You are who I say you are. This is who you were meant to be, now go walk in your gift." WHO ARE YOU to second-guess that? WHO ARE YOU to diminish that? WHY would you allow any. body. else. to come along and challenge what you know to be true? What you know that has been placed in your life to help others? Don't allow yourself, your followers, or anyone else's followers, for that matter, seek to prove or deny your gift. Move forward with the confidence of that blue check mark, knowing that as long as you are connected under your VERIFIED account, your gift cannot be denied! 

Take Care!

Erika Jewel

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We are fortunate to have guest blogger, Erika Jewel, who is an entrepreneur from the Maryland area. Being the social butterfly that she is, she enjoys most things related to interacting with people, helping others feel good about themselves and in general, just loves life.  She enjoys writing and is focusing on spreading love and encouragement in a sometimes funny way that makes you feel like she's an old friend.  
Her blog is currently being revamped, but in the meantime, she can be reached at [email protected].