Are You Being Honest with Yourself?

I’ve learned over the years that we do a lot of hiding and putting on masks to get by and to give others the impression we’re okay, when in fact we are all a bit broken. All of us has a thorn in our flesh (Rom 7:18). Some are bigger than others but we all suffer from some dysfunction. I believe that is a residual effect of sin in the world. It’s also an indicator that we all need Jesus. 

No matter how put together we are and how much stuff we’ve accumulated, we all have an area of our lives where we need the Lord to intervene. No one is perfect whether they are putting on airs or not. In some cases, we’re not even honest with ourselves. 

We avoid dealing with whatever our issues are as if they will just disappear if we ignore them. Unfortunately, that is not how our lives work. One thing I’ve learned is that if we don’t deal with the issues in our lives, they just fester and then they come back with a vengeance. It is usually not pretty for us or those around us. The longer we avoid the issues, the longer it takes to heal and for the broken places to mend (Jam 5:16). 

So our first stop has to be acknowledging that we can’t fix it (whatever it is) alone. We need help. Let’s face it, if we could fix our problems on our own, we would have already done it. It always gets me when someone says, they will turn to the Lord when they get right. That’s a problem. We can’t get right on our own. That’s why we need Him. 

I know it’s hard to admit the need for help and especially when we feel like it’s something within our control. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to control ourselves. Why do you think New Year’s resolutions are so difficult? We don’t have self-control in and of ourselves. It takes the Holy Spirit to give us the power. But He only comes in, when we humble ourselves and acknowledge who Jesus is and what He did for us. We can be prideful and not acknowledge our need for the Lord, our Savior. We have to be transparent and honest with ourselves and those around us. The Word says that if we won’t acknowledge Christ, He won’t acknowledge us to His father (Matt 10:32-33). 

It’s time to be honest with ourselves. We need help and it’s okay to ask for it. It doesn’t make us less than. We are enough – even with all the brokenness and the scars and the mistakes. Until we can own them and who we really are, we can’t expect our circumstances to change (1 John 1:9). Yes, we’re evolving and forever changing, but we need to make sure we’re evolving more deeply as followers of Christ (Rom 12:2). Take a look at your life and really be honest about who you are and whose you are (2 Cor 13:5). No time like the present (Prov 27:1) to admit the broken places and ask Jesus to be your Lord and your Savior. He is the only one who can truly mend them.