I am best at being me, and you are best at being you. Authenticity is the best choice every time. However, the harsh world we live in makes it very difficult to develop authenticity as we are constantly inundated with images of airbrushed faces and carefully crafted pictures of perfection. There is no doubt that the pressure to be something we are not is very real and even oppressive—weighing heavy on us while it constrains us from being our true selves.
If you have been a blogger, writer, creative, and artist any time at all, no doubt you have felt the insecurity, feeling the tension and the struggle with not feeling good enough, creative enough, relevant enough, smart enough.
When we find ourselves weary from the fight to forge ahead, we have to ask ourselves the hard question: Could we be weary because we are striving to be the person we think every one else wants us to be, rather than the one we were created to be? We may do it from time to time without even realizing it, but trying to be something we are not is exhausting and futile nonetheless.
“It is in your broken places you are most often used by God.” —Christine Caine
Learn Yourself
How do you become more content with who God made you to be? Get to know the beautiful, intricate, wonderful ways God made you to be. Learn about yourself. Learn your strengths, and really, truly study what they are. Learn about your different personality traits and what makes you uniquely you.
Self-discovery and self-awareness is not a selfish ambition, because as we learn about how we were made our hearts turn to our Creator. And as our hearts turn to our Creator, we learn more about how we were made.
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:10 NLT)
Embrace Yourself
Sometimes our strengths masquerade as weaknesses, until we truly understand and see them for what they really are. And we tend to focus on our weaknesses, don’t we? We all have them, and it is useful for us to know what they are. But let us not dwell there because then we can’t see past them.
We may be tempted to think, when God was handing out gifts we received those of less value than others received. Let us celebrate, not compare or covet, the gifts and strengths we see in others that we may not possess or are not yet fully developed. We each have a part.
“You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything.” (1 Corinthians 12:27 MSG)
Share Yourself
We may be tempted to portray ourselves as ones who have it all together, but allowing our genuine, imperfect, deeply flawed selves to show face allows those who don’t know God to see His grace at work in our lives and desire it too.
When we are inauthentic it means we are deceptive. Deceptive people are not trustworthy. Although it is not our goal, we may forfeit others’ trust, because we fear their judgment. When we lose their trust, we also lose our usefulness. Jesus called it saltiness.
“Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness?…Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world…By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16 MSG)
Let you be free to be you.
