Remove the mask

The title of today’s post popped up in my mind, and just stuck there. And I believe that God willed it thay way for a reason. So let’s talk about authenticity today. To be authentic means to be genuine.

I believe that God is asking us to drop the facade, the fronts we have put up so well that its hard for people (and even we ourselves) to remember who we once were.

I don’t know about the rest of you but there  have been times that I have felt like I am acting and I knew that I wasn’t being myself. And that’s the thing with not being authentic, you feel likw you’re on stage acting.

Why do we pretend?

Maybe we think that by acting a certain way, we’ll be thought of as being cooler, or maybe its due to childhood experiences that left us hurt. It could also be as a result of the environment that we are in. I don’t know, we can always ask God through His Spirit to reveal the source of our pretence.

How do you know that you are genuine? By not knowing who you are and being comfortable in your skin. Not knowing simple things like what your hobbies are, your likes, dislikes, always going with the flow, not knowing your strengths and weaknesses. If you find your identity being defined by your friends, children,work, family or spouse then most probably you probably do not know yourself. We’re not meant to find our identity in things. Our identity should only be found in Christ.

People especially Christians that are authentic are comfortable in their skin, they are the same person at Church and at work and everyone around them can vouch for them. Authentic people aren’t afraid to speak their mind even when they know that their beliefs are controversial and will disagree with others in a respectful manner. Such people do not manipulate, lie and cheat to have their way. What you see is what you get.

Genuine people don’t follow the crowd, they stand out.

 We do not need to pretend to be someone/something we’re not. God created each and everyone of us with that particular personality (the same one that we dislike and try to change) for a reason. I honestly don’t believe that anyone can truly walk in their purpose while pretending to be someone else.

See, we do not need to change anything about ourselves or personalities to be liked or fit in because God calls us to STAND OUT. The bible in 1 Peter 2:9 calls us a peculiar people, therefore trying to conform to what people think we should be is not necessary.

Ladies and gentlemen, embrace who you are. And for some of us, we have pretended for so long that we have forgotten who we really were. Let’s ask God to remind us who HE has called us to be, what we stand for and our values.