Authenticity

QOD -- Tool of thief, toy of queen. Always used to be unseen. Sign of joy, sign of sorrow. Giving all likeness borrowed. What am I?

I'm thinking

I'm thinking

I'm thinking

I'm thinking

ANSWER: A Mask

When someone asks you the proverbial how are you doing?  What goes through your mind in that moment before you engage your mouth?

Are you wondering, does this person really want to know or are they being casual about conversation? Do they or I really have the time to go into it?

And then, probably out of reflex, you respond with the proverbial "fine, how are you?"

There are two inherent problems with this simple exchange of words. Generally the root stems from the lack of genuineness from either party and the mask that each of us wears from time to time.

We tell someone everything is ok, when the reality of it all is our world could be crumbling down around us. Then we have the nerve to call someone a hypocrite because they seemingly don't care. When if, just for a moment we would be transparent, we might find the answers to the questions we've been asking all our lives.

It's when we remove our masks and go for authenticity that we find freedom through Christ, in Christ.

We might be able to hide behind the mask for a while but the more we cover and hide what's really going on, the harder it becomes to be free from sin and shame.

Psalm 139:14-16, reminds me that there is nothing I can hide from God. He knows everything about me and that includes the things I try to hide behind a mask.

PRAYER: Lord help me to be authentic in my relationships with the people You have put in my life. You knitted me in my mother's womb and nothing is hidden from You. My transparency. May be the key to helping someone else remove their mask as well. It is when we are authentic as a body that we find freedom to be that which You have called us to be.