The World Needs The Real You

I’m not the same person I was 10 years ago, or 5 years, or even 1 year. I bet many of you can say the same thing. Life happens, situations change, we are sometimes forced to change with them, or maybe we purposely make a change. We change our jobs, we change our hobbies, we change where we live, we change our hair color. Why do we do those things? Are we looking for something better, did something force us into it, or are we just searching for something that seems to be missing? Let me tell you about the most important change that I have gone through over the past few years, the one that has truly made a difference.

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galations 2:20

I was holding on tightly to everything I thought I could control, terrified that if I loosened my grip my whole world would fly apart. I was working hard to be a “strong, independent woman”. That’s what a successful life looks like, right? So I buried any unhelpful feelings of regret, or shame, or rejection, put on my best “I’m okay” face, and showed Facebook how great I was doing.

That’s where Jesus found me. Oh, I already knew Him (or so I thought). I prayed when I needed to, went to church, acknowledged what He had done on the cross. But all of that “strength” was keeping Him at arm’s length. He wouldn’t like the real me, so I just showed him the me that I showed everyone else. But He didn’t leave me there. He orchestrated a series of events and placed people in my life who were able to show me how to really know Him, and let Him in to really know me.

I learned to let Him into my heart to take out my trash. What I thought was strength holding everything together, was actually weakness and fear. There is power in letting go of the past. Each time I open my heart more to Christ, more of my past falls away. Each time I repent and ask forgiveness I become a little more “new”. More of myself falls away as more of Him shows through. So does that mean I’m losing myself? No, quite the contrary.

In fact, instead of making me into someone else, He is making me more me. And that is one of the beautiful things about him. That the more his we become, the more ourselves we become; more our true selves. — from Captivating by Stasi and John Eldredge

There’s no more pretending. No more acting a certain way, or looking a certain way. No more trying to do and say the right things so that people will like me and think I have it all together. I was made for a purpose, and my “act” was covering that up. Submitting to Jesus gives me the freedom to be the me that He meant for me to be. Read that again…submitting gives freedom. Freedom to not be weighed down by the hiding and pretending, under all the many disguises I had taken upon myself. Freedom to find my identity, not in what everyone else thinks of me, but in who He says that I am. I was so worried about being liked, but now I know that I am LOVED!

For I hold you by your right hand – I, the Lord you God. And I say to you, “Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.” Isaiah 41:13

This transition has not always been smooth and easy. The world has a way of reminding me who I was, and trying to lure me back there. God promises to help me stay the course, and He constantly reminds me what true freedom and unconditional love feel like. Friends, if you are stuck behind a disguise, or trying your best to keep up a good front, I pray that you will find someone to help you to open your heart and let Jesus in. Let Him clear out the mess and lighten your load. The world needs the real you.