Behind the Masks

Who are you behind the mask you wear? Do you wear your feelings on your shoulder for other people to see who you really are? Do you try to act one way when you really feel another?

Or have you learned that it does not matter what other people think about you? Are you free from the tyranny of their opinions? Do you let your insides out?

Our fears and insecurities often define who we really are inside. We may have a strong spirit, but a very wounded soul. We appear strong, yet are feeble within.

When people reject us for our weaknesses, we feel like worthless damaged goods, which increases our fears and insecurities and compounds our problems.

Some people will actually disdain our inner self, many simply tolerate us and others dwell with us with understanding. The good news is that Jesus died for our inner self too.

His Spirit is transforming our inner self into a new creation through one stage of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18). He slowly peals away the bandages we apply to our wounds.

He exposes the raw emotion and anxiety and puts the salve of God's unconditional love on each one of them. The only opinion of us, which really matters is God's.

This revelation frees us from having to hide behind masks. Jesus encourages us to let our insides out and to receive His healing for our past and His strength for our future.

Prayer:

Father God, teach us not to value anyone else's opinion of us, but to gain our identity through Christ in us. We do not need to rely on any person, place, thing or accomplishment to feel good about our self. It is our personal relationship with You that makes us a child of the King.

Help us to make room for Jesus on the throne of our life where He belongs. He is our best friend and He actually sticks closer to us than any human being ever will (Proverbs 18:24). Your love is ours both now and throughout eternity and flows over us like a waterfall.

Thought for the Day:

Tolerance is not acceptance; only Jesus fully accepts us just the way we are, and then perfects us by His Spirit as He fills us with His joy and peace.

Let Your Insides Out

Who are you behind the masks you wear? Do you wear your feelings on your shoulder for other people to see who you really are? Do you try to act one way when you really feel another?

Or have you learned that it does not matter what other people think about you? Are you free from the tyranny of their opinions? Do you let your insides out?

Our fears and insecurities define who we really are inside. Due to our spirit and soul, we may have a strong spirit, but a very wounded soul. We appear strong, yet most of us are really weak.

When people reject us for our weaknesses, we feel worthless and damaged, which increases our fears and insecurities. We feel too vulnerable and build walls around our heart.

My former husband disdained the inner me. My adult children tolerate the inner me. My current husband dwells with the inner me with patience and understanding.

The good news is that Jesus died for the inner me and His Spirit is transforming the inner me into a new creation from one glorious stage to another (2 Corinthians 3:18, 5:17).

He slowly peels away the bandages, which I applied to the wounds of the inner me. He exposes the raw emotion and anxiety and puts the salve of God's unconditional love on each one of them.

He teaches us that the only opinion of us which really matters is God's, which frees us from having to hide behind masks. He continually encourages us to let our insides out.

Prayer:

Father God, we can love and live with a person, but only You completely love, live with and accept us just as we are. Sometimes we have idols in our life, but they are not really perfect. Jesus is the only one who belongs on the throne of our life. Only You completely and unconditionally love the inner us.

We will leave the significant others in our life when we die, but we will live with You for eternity. Your love is ours now and forever and ever. As we keep You as our best friend and the lover of our soul, we will have Your blessings in our life and Your love will flow over us like a waterfall every day of our life now and always (Matthew 16:26).

Thought for the Day:

No person can completely understand or accept us for who we really are inside; Jesus lives inside of us and He knows and loves us better than we can even know and love our self.

Loving the Unlovable

 

Too often we judge people for their peculiarities and idiosyncrasies. We categorize them, box them up in neat little packages and stick them away on a shelf in our mind, ignoring them as much as possible.

Once in a while our paths cross again, and we are forced to interact with this peculiar individual once more. We take down our box, stick new labels on them and place them back on the shelf as quickly as possible. They may be our neighbor, spouse, child, sibling, relative, church member, co-worker or even our employer.

Please realize that within each of these precious people is a wounded soul. They are a product of a lifetime of events, which molded their personality to give them unique characteristics, which may irritate or even wound us deeply.

We may go so far as to harbor bitterness toward them and possibly even dismiss them from our life as a lost cause (Ephesians 4:32). However, these unlovable people are diamonds in the rough.

They are created by God, and He has a special plan for their life, just as He has for us (Ephesians 2:10). God put them in our life for us to minister His Agape love to them and to give them a secure and nurturing place to live (Matthew 5:47).

We are all fallible and have our own weaknesses and peculiarities. How would you want this person to treat you? There is healing for everyone at the cross of Christ.

Sometimes, people are unaware of God’s grace, and He gives us opportunities to give them unconditional love, patience, security and friendship to model God's character to them. His plan for this relationship may be for us to help heal the deep wounds within their soul.

Prayer:

Father God, You create everyone in Your image. We are all unlovable until You redeem us (Ephesians 1:7). In fact, You loved us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). Teach us that when we allow Your Agape love to flow through us to someone else, it is hard to stay angry at them or to consider them worthless.

Remind us to pray for them and to look for opportunities to bless them. You may just use this individual to bless us in some way too, if we look beyond the aspects of their life which irritate or hurt us, and love them anyway.

Thought for the Day:

Don’t throw people away, because God wants us to use our freedom in Him to love and serve one another, just as He died for and blesses us. – Galatians 5:13