Get Real
By: Kristen L. McNulty
This devotional was aired on the Making A Difference Christian Radio Show. If you would like to use the entire devotional or any one part, you must e-mail the author at kristen@chimfm.com to ask permission. She will reply to all requests within twenty four hours. Thank you for your consideration.
Tonight's impact devotional is based on the song "The Real Me" by Jaci Velasquez:
"I've got my bad days
And some are even worse
I can be a blessing
And you know, I can be a curse
This is the real me
Am I the girl that you want me to be
This is the real me
With flaws and fears of intimacy
This is the real me
So now you see that I am far from perfect
I will fall and I will make mistakes
But I am here and this has taken courage
Will you abandon me or will you stay."
Jaci Velasquez
Keep it real may be a cool saying to say to your friends, but how many of us actually are real. The truth is, we are often not real with others at all. From covering up our real looks with makeup, clothing, and surgery to wearing masks to hide our real personalities behind to covering our lack of spirituality with religious phrases.
In reality, many of us have become the religious Pharisees that Jesus was trying to steer us away from. We've built the church so comfortably that we are not often free to show who we really are in fear of gossip or rejection.
Don't believe me? Ask yourself when's the last time you've confessed a sin you're struggling with to a fellow believer? Has it been a week? A month? A year? Never? And if you have, what was the result? A promise of prayer? Accountability? Or does the whole church now gossip of your sin?
You see friends, because of the fear of gossip or the stronghold of pride we have suppressed who we are and become who we think others want us to be. We have stifled an essential part of Christian growth and instead fought our battles and unbelief on our own.
This is not the way it's supposed to be. In James 5:16 is says: "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results." If only we were all honest about our shortcomings, we'd find out that everyone has some. Then we can together deal with them and move on to further things. Instead we all struggle alone and few are victorious.
As a church we need to unite and fight the good fight together. I should be able to come to you with my sin and count that you will hold me accountable, and you should be able to count on me to do the same without spreading it to the whole church body just so I can look holier as a result of your honesty.
This is a problem and it's only going to change when we start becoming real. It may take a while, but it can start with you. Find an accountability partner or a group of believers that wish to form an accountability group. Then you can confess your struggles as a group of believers and hold each other up in prayer and in accountability. This is the way to real spiritual growth.
Let me close with some good food for thought from the Bible: Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!
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