Good Morning! I hope everyone has had a wonderful week and hope your weekend is even better. My last post was about being transparent so that we can relate to more people. Well, that's what I want for myself anyway. Kerry commented and asked why we tend to guard ourselves and why transparency seems to be a weakness. I commented back to her what came immediately to me but is definitely something I would need to think about. So, I ask you the same question. Why do you feel people are guarded when it comes to seeing the "real" you. Why do you, or maybe someone you know, tend to hide the struggles they may face. And do you see a way to "fix" this? Your comments and opinions are welcome. As a matter of fact...I want them. Me blogging would be no fun if we couldn't and didn't interact with one another. Feel free to speak your mind.
Natalie
I'm reading a book by Craig Groeschel called "The Christian Atheist". Basically, it's about how many Christians aren't living like they are Christians. One comment he made relates to your post. He says that as we grow in our relationship with God, grow closer to Him, we care less and less about what other people think. I think, myself included, that many Christians are 'Atheist Christians'. We believe IN God, but don't truly KNOW Him. If we were in a true relationship with Him, the way we were created to be, transparency wouldn't be an issue because we would know who we are in Christ is waaaaay more important than who others think we are.
ReplyDeleteLove love love your comments and wisdom...please keep them coming. And I agree 100 percent with what you said. I read something not too long ago in the book Mere Christianity that said that in the end...it really doesn't matter what we think of God (standing before HIm on judgement day) but what God thinks of us!!!! Think about that!!! That's really deep!!!! If we lived our lives everyday with the conscious thought of "what does God think of me," I don't believe what other people thought about us would matter. It's not them we have to stand before. But it takes great faith to please a God we can't see as opposed to pleasing people we can see.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it doesn't even matter what we think of ourselves...some people think bad some think too good...but it's what God thinks. Would we be a better people if at the end of the day we laid in bed and asked, "God, what did you think of me today. Show me where I was wrong so I can correct it and show me where I pleased you so I can repeat it."
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly. We fail to be transparent out of fear of what others will think of us. And it DOES NOT MATTER what others think of us, and I'd like to take it a step further and say, ITS NOT ABOUT US anyways! Our focus, ultimately, should not be on ourselves. Beth Moore's book, "So Long Insecurity" put it this way, "Self-consciousness is the acute awareness and a preoccupation with self, no matter how it's externalized in life." When we fix our gaze fully on our Heavenly Father, then our insecurities have no hold. Lord, may You become greater, and I become less.
ReplyDeleteJes,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder of what Beth wrote in "So Long Insecurity". I had many 'a-ha' moments while reading that, but forgot about this one.
Natalie, I looooooved your comment asking God what He thought of me (us)today. Show me where I was wrong so I can correct it & show me where I pleased You so I can repeat it!!! That is awesome!!! Talk about being open & honest & allowing God to speak to us & take His correction with a pure heart. What WE may think pleased God may NOT have pleased Him. His ways are higher than our ways & His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. We may be surprised at what we hear.
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