One crisp morning, my sister and I crisscrossed along the winding hiking trail and discovered the most beautiful spider web spun between two trees. Decorated with tiny droplets of morning dew, the white light of the sun dispersed into a magnificent display of iridescent color, and we stood there watching in awe! Recalling the memory, I can’t help but think how God spoke the world with all its extravagant colors into being. The True Light – genuine, perfect and steadfast – that turned nothingness into a burst of color. With His word, He created everything we see, and He created you and me. His Word replacing darkness with Light.
Jesus Christ, the Way the Truth and the Life, came to illuminate every one of us with His Light, to shine in the darkness and to make a difference with the unique personality traits He wove into our DNA. He gave each one of us something valuable to contribute to the people we share our lives with. To be able to shine, we need to be clean prisms that allows the light of Jesus to be dispersed into the beautiful colors that He had envisioned when he designed our innermost beings – and that is not always easy…
If I’m truly honest with myself, I don’t always reflect the real me to others. I often find myself in a place where I must make a tough decision between living honestly or deceptively. Sometimes I avoid a question, sometimes I mislead, sometimes I choose to reinterpret and deflect … and hide the truth. It’s much more comfortable to show others what I believe they want to see. I’d rather sacrifice what I want, to give somebody else what I think they want. The truth is, sometimes I’m scared to show the real me. Sometimes I fear others’ thoughts, their feelings and their interpretations and I hide the beautiful colors that God carefully picked out to place in me. But every time I do that, I fall prey to the attacks of the enemy and I take one step away from the Light and one step closer to darkness.
When Paul describes the Armor of God in Ephesians 6, he starts with the girdle of truth. A belt the Roman soldiers wore to provide core support and to secure other pieces of armor. The belt freed up their arms to utilize the sword and shield and their legs so they could move effectively. It helped carry the load of the rest of the armor and strengthened them to endure in battle. The belt, Paul says, represents the Truth, and the Truth is God’s Word, which is alive and full of power and able to distinguish and expose the truth (Heb 4:12). Knowing the truth, enables us to see clearly – it exposes deception and make everything visible and clear in its light (Eph 5:13). When I take my fears and insecurities to the Word of God and measure it against His standard, His truth, I can see my life in the true light, discern the lies and have freedom to move, freedom to fight and freedom to prevail against the attacks of the enemy.
When I look back at my life, I can see that I’ve made my biggest mistakes where I acted (or did not act) out of fear or insecurity. Fear of hurting, exposing, disappointing or inconveniencing someone else has often changed my behavior. So, when I feel anger rising, or disappointment looming, or thoughts of inadequacy surfacing, or remorse growing, I need to take it to the Word of God, determine the truth and make the conscious and brave choice to act accordingly – humbly apologize, courageously acknowledge my weaknesses or confidently share my thoughts and feelings in love and with wisdom. And every time I choose Truth, I take one step closer to the Light and one step away from darkness.
You see, the truth is what sets us free (John 8:32) from the footholds the devil seeks to find in our lives. And we know the truth, because we have the Word of God which is a lamp to our feet and the light to our path (Ps 119), we have Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, living in us if we choose to follow Him and we have the Spirit to lead and guide us along the way. Speaking truly, dealing truly and living truly keep us from becoming entangled and tripping up. If we can take the brave step, press into the Word of Truth and push through the fear of unknown consequences, we will not be walking in the dark, but we will have the Light which is Life (John 8:12).
It takes courage to show your true colors to an intimidating, unpredictable world. To show the truth, is to be vulnerable, to be authentic, to be the person God created me to be. Brenè Brown said that “authenticity is not something we have or don’t have. It is a practice – a conscious choice of how we want to live. Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It’s about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen. It is letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are.” A choice to be me – bravely.
Jesus says if we hold fast to His teachings and live in accordance to it, we are truly his disciples – then we will know the truth and the truth will set us free (John 8:31-32). Jesus gave His life for our sake and on our behalf so we could be made Holy in the Truth – His Word (John 17:17-19). Hard as it may be and often is, I want to be sanctified by His Word so I can reflect His Light in the world. I want my life to honor my Savior. I choose to live in His Truth, to the glory of His Wonderful Name.
[Collage created using Pinterest images]
So waar. Dankie dat jy deel. Mens sit eerder n masker op. Verdonker ons gesig. As mens die masker afhaal skyn die lig so helder. Soms maak dit ons oë seer. Maar daarna kan ons die mooi spinnerak sien. Die mooi in ander sien en die mooi in onsself sien.