What if we were completely transparent? What if we allowed the light of Jesus to shine right through us? What does that even mean? What would that look like?
Well....I know in my life it would mean being completely honest, laying it all out there for Jesus to come and restore. Then sharing my story, my testimony, my past and present failures. When we pretend everything is just great and it's all perfect, we do a great disservice to the redemptive power of the cross.
As a parent we are gearing up to have some seriously hard conversations with our kids about sex. Seriously hard. It isn't easy for any parents but for parents who didn't wait, for a mom that conceived her first child in high school, unmarried, it complicates the conversation. Many parents didn't wait and lots of them conceived out of wedlock, sadly it is not uncommon anymore. And lots of parents lie to their kids. We wont lie. We can't. Our oldest knows he was adopted by his dad. The message I hope to share with my son and daughters is not a scary teen pregnancy story but the redemptive story. The work Jesus did in my life.
Where I am going with all of this is that the messy and brokenness that makes up our lives is so powerful if we will lay it out there rather than hide it. I am not saying we should give details and air out our dirty laundry, but we should tell the truth.
In John chapter 8, Jesus tells us that He is the truth and He will set us free. Free from sin, free from shame. We are captives to sin and shame. Even when you are free from sin you can still be held captive by shame. Being transparent, truthful, and sharing your story will literally set you free from shame. The enemy that holds you captive by shame will then be the one you are holding captive!
When we become transparent with Jesus, He makes us whole, He heals us, He redeems us, He makes us new. It is in this place, this safe place, you can become the real you. Not the you clothed in shame and burdened with regret, but the you clothed in righteousness, with no burdens at all! Not the you full of reject, but the Jesus in you that you fully accept.
Once you fully accept yourself you can learn to fully accept others. Because this faith journey isn't one we should travel alone. We need friends. Friends is really understatement. We need people who have gone before us and people to go along side us- brothers and sisters in Christ. But if we can't make peace with the past, if we continue to wear a mask and refuse transparency, then we will never really be on the journey at all. We will never really be able to impact people for Christ. Without transparency it's like emptiness. With truth, love, and togetherness we have fullness.
It's time to lay down the mask and facade and say I struggle with depression...or my daughter has an eating disorder...or my marriage is falling apart...or I am struggling with the financial burden of single parenting...or addiction...or homosexuality...or any other number of things that wreak havoc in our hearts and tear apart our happy homes.
My heart is craving the raw real life relationships. The kind where we can be real and transparent. And I think it's time. Time to be transparent, to be real, to allow healing in our souls. Time to let Jesus heal us and let our brothers and sisters in Christ walk with us.
To be real. To be honest. To be healed. To be you.
{This blog post was highly inspired by a book, "The Beauty of Broken," written by Elisa Morgan. This is definitely a recommended read!}
You know I'm with you here. I don't lie. It isn't worth it and I can't handle the worry about the truth coming out. On the other hand I have a lot of respect for how my dad handled his Pre 1976 life. Before my dad joined the Church he lived the opposite of how he did now. He was a total hippie. He won't lie but certain things he just won't answer. He'll say he never smoked tobacco when you ask him about drug use. I know my mom wasn't his first and that he had a girl that lived in the house he and his brother's owned (a big no no now). I know he made his own wine. But I have never once heard of drug/alcohol/sex stories. He has mentioned that he shared more with my older brother when he was a teen but my brother then held it against him. I have learned that my father repented of his sins and didn't see the point in broadcasting or sharing them. It was between him and our Savior. But he won't lie. If you push the envelope, he'll sit you down and explain why he won't talk about it. Anyway I can see for you there are more details to share because of your situation but would counsel you to be prayerful in the information you choose to share.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Angela. I understand what you mean completely. :)
DeleteHailey, this the exact thought that has been tugging at my heart! I have no idea why but for some reason many people perceive me as someone who came from a "good" family and I'm a "good girl",of course, I now strive to live a godly life, but sometimes when people apologize for cussing in front of me or are uncomfortable with my knowing their past,as if I'm somehow above them,I just want to scream. I am a child of an alcoholic drug abusing father,who tormented us with emotional and occasionally physical abuse,held myself and my family at gunpoint once,I grew up in a home where the police were called at least once a week.This was my life until when I was a teen my Mom had us flee to Texas, two weeks after us leaving,my father overdosed and died.My sis was pregnant at 15.Both of my siblings and I turned to drugs and alcohol.Thankfully I didn't like drugs but I tried them, both my brother and sister became homeless meth addicts for years(now recovered,Praise God!) The fact that I can get up and worship on a stage would shock people who knew me as the girl with no self esteem who barely spoke.I don't share this with people because I'm afraid. I don't mind people thinking I'm good because I grew up as the kid from the "bad" family where parents didn't allow their kids to be friends with us.And I don't want people to ever think I'm looking for pity.But sharing where I came from to where I am now,shines a much bigger light on Jesus than only half of the picture ever could.I know I was meant to read this because it's something God's been working on with me. Thank you Hailey for making me realize it's okay and important to show all of me. Love your beautiful heart. Debi Scott.
ReplyDeleteWow. That's a beautiful testimony! Thank you for sharing. <3
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