Is Living Like the Hero of Your Story Biblical?

This post is part of the Through the Eyes of a Writer Series.

If you’re on Instagram or Pinterest, you’ve probably seen lots of posts encouraging women to see themselves as the heroine of their lives. And I believe we all do this, whether it’s a conscious, social-media-inspired choice or not.

The world would have you live as a hero. You’re the main character after all, right?

The problem with this thinking is that it’s TOTALLY DIFFERENT from what we find in Scripture.

Matthew 16:24-26

²⁴ Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. ²⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

Denying ourselves and taking up our cross doesn’t sound very heroic, does it? The world would say, as a hero, you must accomplish your hero’s journey (running towards that deepest desire you have, whether it’s treasure or a throne) no matter the cost. But Jesus says that, if we “gain the world” we’ll lose our soul.

Ephesians 2:10

¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

This verse says that, if we are part of Jesus’ workmanship (aka we are Christians), He’s already prepared things we should do and before the beginning of time, all to accomplish HIS purposes (not necessarily ours).

Proverbs 19:21

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.

We can plan all we want, but God’s will shall be done.

Bible verses about loving God more than anything else

This doesn’t mean that we can’t have anything we want in life. Sometimes the good things we want will be aligned with God’s will for us, and we can live out that purpose knowing God is using it to advance His kingdom.

But sometimes we have to lay our wants and desires down. For example, King David desperately wanted to build a temple for God (2 Samuel 7). What could be wrong with that, right? And at the same time, He’d get to show off his artistic ability and have a cool building to show visitors.

But God says no. That wasn’t in His plan for David. David was God’s warrior, not meant to build the temple.

A worldly hero would say, “I want to erect this building. My heart is pure, my intentions are good. What’s wrong with that?”

But a Bible follower says, “God said no. I will do His will, placing it above my own will and desires.”

John 1

This passage is a great summary of the purpose of life, and the purpose of the world. It’s the story of the true Hero, the Savior of mankind. All we do supports His work; we are truly secondary characters, with wills secondary to His leading.

The main story is the Gospel. Our life’s purpose is to live out and spread that Gospel message, using the talents God has gifted us.

This is a higher calling than being a hero. It’s not always comfortable, and the world will laugh. But it’s truly making the pages of your story count.