Do You Masquerade Year Round?

When people look at you, do they "see" the "real" or "authentic" you? Lately, I have been wondering a lot about what people think when they see me walking down the street or at my job. I am not being vain when I think about this, but it does worry me. I profess myself to be a Christian, but is that the first thing that people see about me, when they meet me for the first time. Or do they see the "mask" of myself that I want them to see?

Yesterday, I started reading a new book entitled "Beyond The Masquerade - Unveiling the Authentic You" by Dr. Julianna Slatery. I have only gotten through the first chapter and already I have learned some invaluable information.

• Our Masks Prevents Us from Experiencing Intimacy with God - Our relationship with God is absolutely dependent upon how we understand ourselves before Him. We must never approach God based on our strengths. Our talents, good behavior, knowledge of Scripture, and devotion to God cannot make us worthy in God's eyes. We're strong only when we're willing to be weak. (page 15)
• Our Masks Prevents Us from Pleasing God - We need to not be so concerned with how the world sees us. In fact, what others think and feel should not matter at all. We can do everything that a good "Christian Woman" is "supposed to do" and yet it still may not be enough to please God. The problem lies in why we do the things we do... are we doing them so that we will be noticed by the world and so that we live up to what the world expects of us, or are we doing the things that we do because we want to serve our Lord?

Every though we have, every word we utter, every

motive in our hearts is either intent upon pleasing God

or serving our pride.

• Our Masks Prevents Us from Experiencing Intimacy in Relationships - When we sit down with a fellow Christian and start talking, do we cloak ourselves in the facade of "Christian Love" and rather than building each other up, we spend the time tearing each other down and trying to outdo each other?

When I was done ready the first chapter, I said the little prayer at the end and asked God to let me see what masks I am currently putting up for people to see. If you are wondering the same thing, maybe you may want to say the prayer as well and then let me know what God says to you (don't feel obligated to tell me - but it may be nice to know that we are not the only ones who have the same masks that we are trying to rid ourselves of).

O Precious Lord, I want the freedom that You died to give all of us!

With my heart full of love for You, I want to be free to praise You as Your bride.

I want to honor You without a thought going through my head that I need to impress others.

I want to fellowship with and serve others without wanting to compete against others, being jealous of others or being suspicious of other peoples' motives.

I want to be able to proclaim Your Name without the lingering thoughts that others will not approve going through my head.

I want to tell the world that because of Your amazing grace I am free to be the child of God that You planned for me to be. Amen.

Psalm 51:6 "Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place."