Authentic Before Jesus
By Tonya King
Have you ever looked in a mirror, stepped away, then forget what you look like? I know that sounds like an odd question. I mean, we all know what we look like. The real question is “does our inner self match our outward person”?
We who suffer with mental illness tend to hide our “true self”. We are afraid of what others think and how they will act towards us. I admit, I have felt this way myself. We know all the right things to say to people to keep them at arm’s length, but, at the same time, are we keeping God at arm’s length as well?
I find that I tend to negate the true me in the hopes that the “false me” will somehow be more pleasing to God. Silly right? I know. But the mask I wear is difficult to remove, even in the presence of the One who made me. I get so used to pretending, that the my “true self” can get lost. I need to start living an authentic life, both with God and with people.
What does an authentic life look like? Brene Brown, a modern-day evangelist, states,
“Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we are supposed to be and embracing who we are”.
Sounds hard doesn’t it. And it may be, but it is something we need to do. Our real self has value. We are not less than others just because we suffer with a mental illness any more than someone who suffers from diabetes is less than others.
Our illnesses are often misunderstood and stigmatized, but that is the problem of society. It does not define us. We need to stand up and embrace who we are. We need not hide as if we have done something wrong or as if we have no value. Our value comes from God, not others. We need to set His opinion of us over everyone else’s.
Every human being longs to be known and loved as we truly are. Through the good times and the ugly times. We want to be unconditionally loved with a love that holds no judgement. We can only receive this love through a relationship with Jesus. He allows us to live authentically, on purpose, real.
However, we must be sincere about who we truly are in order to accept this love. We cannot go to Jesus with our “fake” self and think we will be able to bask in this love. Oh, he truly loves us, but we may not be able to receive this love because we are wearing a mask to protect us from others. We need to remove this mask and allow the love of Jesus to penetrate our heart.
So, go live authentic, imperfect, messy lives before a judging world, who is in itself, broken and before a loving God who sees you as perfect.
Tonya King is a writer, speaker, and Mental Health Coach. She is the founder of faith in the Midst ministries which is a ministry devoted to the healing and wholeness from mental illnesses through faith in Jesus Christ
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