THE REAL YOU

Many times we go out of our way to portray ourselves as we want others to see us. I read a "funny" the other day about the differences between women and men that really sums our facades up.
"Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy."

OK, all funning aside, that is one of the things that I love most about God. He sees me as I am, (not as I might try to get others to think I am), and He loves me.

I counseled with someone recently that had come out of a very strict, religious background and this individual was telling me why they were angry with God. They were quite shocked when my reply to them was, "have you told God about it?" Shocked, because they had been told that it was sin to be angry with God.

I think that the sin in it comes when we keep it all bottled up and live the "facade, everything is perfect life" until we just can't handle it anymore.

God is perfect! Sometimes that might seem to be a burdensome thing to us but when it is really understood, I think it is a pretty cool thing. Here is what I mean. I'll use myself for an example. Most times I'm a pretty level headed, in control, individual. (at least that's what I let others see ;<) But I've never been one to stand in line for criticism. Want to know why? Because I know that I'm not perfect. If you criticize me about the right things, I might prove that I'm not perfect. I may feel the need to defend myself or my actions. How many "friendships" have been damaged or undone over one party being critical or mad at the other? It's a HUMAN thing!

But God is perfect! He has no need to defend Himself. He will never become emotionally unbalanced because of ANYTHING I might say to Him. As a result of that I CAN TELL HIM ANYTHING. He won't get mad and walk away, He won't pout and best of all, because He is perfect, God never holds a grudge. Try that with your closest friends and family. :<0>

When you think about it, that is usually the reason we put up facades in the first place. We worry about what others will think if we show our true selves or feelings. The cool thing is that God already knows. You aren't telling Him anything new if you share your true feelings, you are simply showing your trust in someone who loves you unconditionally.

Oh yes, one last little caveat. When you finally decide that you can trust God enough to tell Him what you are feeling, be sure to realize that He loves you enough to perfectly tell you why you are wrong. Trust me, it's better than carrying it around, all bottled up. Besides, if it were sin to be angry with God, I'm convinced we wouldn't have 150 Psalms.