#Struggles “Authenticity”
Halloween is such a fun time of year! We always tell our children to stay away from strangers and not to just go with someone because they offer you candy…yet on this one day a year we let our children knock on strangers doors and accept candy! How confusing :D? But honestly, isn’t it fun to dress up to look like someone else and get rewarded for it? We have best costume, scariest costume, best couples costume, theme costume and on & on. But Nov. 1st always comes and the masks have to come off. Yet in our day to day we get stuck so much in keeping the masks on trying to get rewarded for being everything but our true selves. So how do we get past the mask?
Exodus 34:29-35 2 Corinthians 3:13-18
What Mask(s) are you wearing?
- Your Mask COVERS More Than YOUR FACE (2 Corinthians 3:13-15)
- Paul is referencing Moses’ mask here, but we can miss the point of Moses wearing the mask until it’s unpacked here. Moses wasn’t trying to hide that he had been talking with God, but was actually hiding everyone from seeing God’s radiance hide from his face.
- How do other’s react when we put our masks on? Do they fall in love more with what your mask represents or you? What if I take the mask off and they don’t like what they see? There is power in the mask…but somehow we can get lost in our masks. When we do we live out our masks covering more than our face…it covers our hearts and hides who we truly are. Israel was stuck in the same time frame—the veil (mask) is still covering their hearts because they have missed that Jesus has torn the veil for them to have a relationship with God!
- Don’t Be AFRAID to live UNFILTERED (2 Corinthians 3:16-18)
- Paul describes here what happens when we take the mask off and accept Jesus for who He is as our Savior. Israel is stuck in the Law of Moses that came off of Mt. Saini in trying to earn their way to God instead of just accepting Jesus for who He is!
- When we accept Jesus for who He is & remove the mask of sin in our lives we have freedom. Instead we get to live unfiltered free lives in Christ…not lives of works to be perfect, but lives understanding we aren’t perfect but get to be perfected by Jesus alone. Focus on listening to Jesus and doing what He says…not your follows & likes!
We’ve been focusing on the mask you wear and how it specifically affects how others see you, but can you really see others for who they are when you wear the mask? Or are you more concerned with what will happen when the mask falls off? Think of that and how the mask in your life hold you from the freedom Christ died to give you. Live the unfiltered unmasked life & be all Christ made you to be!
Take Away:
- What mask are you wearing? What efforts do you take to pre-plan conversations? What are some situations where you find yourself showing “the me I want you to see”?
- What step can you take to challenge yourself to be authentic this week? If all of your ideas are within social media and not in real life, what will you do to challenge yourself to open up in person?
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Tyler West 