The Version of You They Remember Is Not the Version of You God Is Growing

There comes a moment in growth that feels like standing in a doorway.

Behind you: the familiar version of you — the one people got used to.

Ahead: the version God is shaping — quieter in spirit, stronger in identity, wiser in boundaries.

And right in the middle is where it gets hard.

Because people will always remember the version of you that benefited them.

The agreeable you. The available you. The "I’ll bend so you’re comfortable" you.

But God is growing the “I honor my calling, not your comfort” version of you.

That’s the tension:

People cling to the version of you that served their story. God grows the version of you that serves His.

You are not obligated to stay who someone remembers when God keeps revealing who you are.

Growth is not betrayal. Clarity is not selfish. Boundaries are not rebellion.

They are alignment.

Some people from your past will misunderstand your evolution — not because you’ve become unkind, but because you’re no longer available to be controlled by their expectations.

Read that again.

Your growth will cost you relationships with people who preferred you small.

Your peace will confuse people who were invested in your chaos.

Your boundaries will offend those who benefitted from your lack of them.

But your soul? Your nervous system? Your connection to God?

They will exhale.

There will be days when the darkness of the “old room” feels safer and the light of the “new room” feels overwhelming. There will be days you question whether you should turn back.

On those days, remember this:

Where God is leading you requires a different version of you.

A healed version. An anchored version. A version that isn’t ruled by needing outside approval.

Here’s a grounding thought for your transition:

• You’re not leaving people behind.

• You’re leaving patterns behind.

Let them remember who you were.

You’re busy becoming who you were created to be.

Walk through the door.

God’s already in the room ahead.