Fake it until you make it? REALLY?

**Warning-It's my blog and I'll write what I want to.

Psalm 51:6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; {6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.} you teach {6 Or you desired...; you taught} me wisdom in the inmost place.

Why in the world are we (especially as Christians) so worried about our image or how we appear to others (I am not talking about our witness. I am speaking of image building...wanting others to think something of us that is not true)? I get so tired of the fake it until you make it approach to life. I am not saying that we are to open up and tell total strangers our deepest struggles and every past sin so let me make myself clear. I just think as Christians we would all be a little more free if we dropped our defenses and our pride and made our struggles a little more known to those around us. We could also use a dose of praising God for where He has brought us from so others that are weary can hear that they can make it out of the hole that maybe they dug for themselves. I hear all of these phrases when people are describing "themselves" like I am a wife, and mother...my kids are near perfect...my husband is the next best thing to Jesus he is so dreamy...I keep my house perfectly clean...I iron all the clothes...and I have a hot meal on the table at 5pm. If that describes you...I am so happy for you but that is just not my life. There are times when I wonder...man is this life going to get better? Am I ever going to have victory in this area? Will my marriage ever get better? Am I a good mother? Is my heart pure before God? Will I ever get over this unforgiveness or this envy? Is anyone struggling financially? Will I ever feel God's forgiveness over this past sin? There is a person in my life that cares all about form and nothing about function to the point that it makes me want to puke my guts out to put it lightly. Hey ask me about my favorite team or sport and I will tell you anything you need to know...but let's not get past the surface...why that would mean work. It would mean being real which is something I am just not willing to do. I think that is the attitude of a large percent of Americans...just keep the topic to manicures and pedicure only please...all the while I am dying on the inside. It reminds me of when Jesus spoke to the Pharisee's in Matthew 23:27 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.
28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."

I think that this is the goal that many of us are striving for to appear that we have it together when in fact we are full of sin, struggling, and maybe even wigging out in a stronghold. We want others to think that we are rolling with the big dogs, that our wallets are fat, our marriages are perfect, and all the while we are white washed tombs on the outside, our foundations that we have been building on are nothing but sinking sand and inside there is no life in us just dry bones. Don't you think a lot of it has to do with us not focusing on Christ because if we truly did we would see that we are all made of clay? That we all fall short? That we all need help...real help from a real Savior? The whole comparison thing reminds me of this verse: 2 Corinthians 10:12 "We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise."

All I am saying is that we all have room to grow, room for improvement. None of us have arrived and where God has delivered us let's please try to pass it on to those who are desperate to know that they can be delivered to. When we begin to delve into just how much we have been forgiven we are going to want others to be reached with the same forgiveness and mercy that has been given to us.

More importantly we need to be honest first with God. He knows even why we feel the way we do...why we are struggling like we are. He created us. He is our maker. I have been giving a lot of thought to prayer and one thing I keep thinking of is how prayer is really honesty, authenticity before God. Showing God our true colors and not hiding behind a mask. Don't you think if we do that and His forgiveness washes over you and me that we will be more free to be able to reach others. Don't you ever feel like looking at someone and telling them to Get Real?!? So here me say it as I say it to myself: GET REAL!

I love this verse in Lamentations 2:19 Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint from hunger at the head of every street. I don't want to take this verse out of context but I will say that we would all be wise to apply it. Part of the reason why we don't get past our junk is because we aren't being honest before a Holy God who made the way for us to come boldly to His throne to find grace and help in time of need. You don't have to agree with me and you can just stay to yourself but I love that Jesus told Peter this verse after Satan had asked permission to sift him like wheat: Luke 22
32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
Jesus knew Peter's heart and He knew that He would turn back...and He told him "when you have turned back" not "if" but "when" strengthen your brothers. I guess if you have not ever blown it in a BIG way (which all sin causes us to miss the mark if you want to get picky) then you can't understand being forgiven in a BIG way. When you start to get the fact that God forgave you for denying Him, by your actions or witness, you will want to turn to others and strengthen them to stay true and strengthen them with the mercy that you have received.