Oh, I am cracking up laughing at the title of my post tonight. God has such a sense of humor with us, does He not?? This whole week, with my 3 year old, Caleb, we have been drilling home this one concept: delayed obedience is disobedience. And then, I go and do my first week of bible study late!! hehehe. Oh dear, what are we ever going to do with you, Darlene???
First of all, I want to that Lelia for hosting this bible study, Lisa for her labor of love in writing this book, and Christy for telling me about the study. I am excited to be joining all of you!
I have to say, it was the subheading of this book that compelled me most: "What's really going on inside the souls of women." If you are anything like me, you join in on the shaking-of-heads that most men do when they gripe, 'you never really know what a woman is thinking.' So, I admit it! A lot of times, I don't KNOW what I am thinking either. It is just a mess up there, in that brain of mine!
First of all, as women especially, we believe a huge, highly oversold, batch of lies about ourselves. I am not exempt! For sure!! I am at war with the very things that go on inside of my own head!!I am led to think of the verse:
Ephesians 6:12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
What does this have to do with authenticity? Well, I believe that until we can muck through the mess in our own heads, until we even know and rest in our TRUE identity (and that is our identity in Christ, friends!!!), we will not have the confidence or clarity to be authentic!
Lisa writes, about why we put on false charades, that "We lack honesty and authenticity, and our past experiences lead us to believe it is in our best interests to keep our true feelings hidden." So true! And I think that our past experiences also lead us to believe that we are something we are not! We believe we have so much to hide: No one can know that I am not perfect. No one can know that I am not a perfect multitasker. No one can know that I am not the perfect mother. No one can know that I am not a perfect Christian. No one can know that I am not good enough......
Yes, we 'lie' to others. We put on a charade with others. We act all-put-together with others.
But, we also lie to ourselves when we believe we are something we are not! When we, deep down, believe we are worthless (a lie! Our worth rests securely in Christ)... or we are not 'perfect' enough (this was never ours to achieve! Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.). When we buy satans lies.... hook, line, and sinker...
As I begin this study on authenticity, I must confess... my struggle is not with speaking the truth, or being forthright. I can wholeheartedly agree with Lisa as she wrote "Of all the many shortcomings I have, I do not struggle often with saying what I feel. (Sometimes that is the problem!) I tend to be honest, if not a bit blunt sometimes." I am right there with ya, girl!
But where I do struggle is this,
I don't believe God's truths about me....
and that pulls me away from true authenticity.
8 friends had a thing or two to say...:
Oh girl...I got a chill when I read the last part of this post. Have you sneaked a peek at the last three chapters? The Real Deal? Ummmm...hang on. We are going there.
So glad to be on this journey with you!
Lisa :)
Wow Darlene, I agree with Lisa in that the last part of this post gave me the chills too!
"We believe we have so much to hide..." - how true is that! Why can't we just be ourselves? Why do we buy into the false expectation of perfection? (Yes, I've started
chapter 2!)
"But, we also lie to ourselves when we believe we are something we are not!" - another truth! WE are the ones that are stopping ourselves from being truly authentic by buying the enemy's "lies...hook, line, and sinker..."
"...where I do struggle is this, I don't believe God's truth about me...and that pulls me away from true authenticity." - I must believe God! I really must, but for some reason I stop myself from doing this, and can you imagine how much that is hurting God? We need to be true to Him and honour ourselves more.
This study is already becoming a truly amazing experience and we've only just begun! Imagine how changed we are ALL going to be even after a few chapters through! I have goosebumps thinking about it here as I type. I am so looking forward to the rest of this journey with you and the other lovely ladies!
Love In Him, Paula :-)
Oh my goodness...
To read all you said about the lies...
Can I tell you how many lies have been revealed to me in the past year that I have been believing? Hmmm... maybe just go to my blog, it might be faster! :) I have been going through counseling for depression, and the lies that were reinforced by the junk I went through in my past, well, they have just taken over my life. I do everything out of those lies... or I did. I am now starting to come out of that... starting to be more real and authentic... starting to live based on the knowledge of who I am in Christ... the heart knowledge, not just the head knowledge.
And man is it hard. To have others see where I am at, and to know that I take meds, or that I was hospitalized twice for suicidal thoughts...
interestingly enough, it was "here" (on my blog) that I was able to start being real with others than the 3 couples in my small group from church. As I have found friendships here, and acceptance and encouragement from a group of gals here, it has encouraged me to continue that road to being real with others, here at home "in the flesh" so to speak.
I am scared, yet excited, to see what God is going to do!
I am glad you are on this journey with us!
God bless,
Heather
wow! so spiritual. 2 studies at once! ;)
i am anxious to see how you enjoy this. the funny thing is that i was seriously considering hosting my own online study this year, but decided to so other stuff instead...however, i am seriously considering it for the future.
Darlene, you really struck me when you said I don't believe God's truth about me. It's so true why do we find it so easy to believe the lies of the enemy than it is to believe the truth of our Lord.
Can't wait to start Chpt 2.
Carol
I needed that post. I need to believe His truth, not mine or anyone elses'.
I'm ready to learn it, believe it, and be changed by it. Lisa's comment made me want to skip the the last three chapters. But I'll be good. I'm sure that if I skip ahead I'll miss the transforming work of God.
I so can't wait to see what God is up to.
Wow Darlene,
What a thought provoking post. I can't wait to see what God is going to teach us as we go through this study.
And the truth of "delayed obedience is disobedience"... yes, so true. I love it when I am trying to teach my children this... and God says, "yes, Lynn, that is just what I was thinking!!". Honesty and Real. Right where God wants us to be.
Lynn
Thanks for sharing this...it's so true when you bring out how easy it is to believe the low with in, yet hard to acknowledge the good. Another strong point on why we need to allow God leadership of our lives. Thanks so much for sharing this...hey better late then never...and believe it or not, I didn't think it was late at all...lol have a wonderful rest of your week end with your family!
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