Let’s face it, we all have worn and wear masks.

There’s the real you and the “you” that’s presented to others.

Often this is out of fear: we don’t want to be rejected.

Or it’s due to pride: not a very noble reason.

It’s due to timidity.

But if it’s not the real “you,” it’s not authentic.

It’s a pretense.

It’s not the authentic person God made.

There’s both physical and spiritual “makeup.”

We overuse that when we’re too focused on a mirror.

Let God come through whatever you think is a weakness—let Him mold you; see Him in the mirror—and His Power will show up to change you.

We all have weaknesses. We all have blemishes, imperfections, chinks in our armor.

Instead of covering them over, bring them to the Lord.

Humbleness is the key. God loves humility.

And the devil flees from it.

Pride, jealousy, compromise: we’re here to change for the better and ascend to Christ.

Be who you really are and you find your purpose.

When you come across arrogance, when you come across meanness and pretense, you come across someone with “dead man’s bones” (Matthew 23:27):

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of decay.”

Saints famously acknowledged faults.

When we cover up, we put aspects of ourselves in darkness, the enemy’s terrain.

“God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7).

Look how Peter, instead of a pretense, in the end admitted shortcomings.

The simple but amazing truth is that Jesus often uses the weak and fragile, the “lowly,” to do his work.

The false “you” won’t fulfill purpose. It will not reach your destiny. It will not fully enjoy the favor of God.

Yet we have masks for every situation.

One is for work. One may be with friends.

Don’t fall for this. First of all, hang out with those with whom you can be authentic. If a person can’t accept the real “you,” move on.

This isn’t to say we shouldn’t correct faults. Quite the opposite. It means we begin to correct faults when we don’t hide them (especially from ourselves).

The confessional is a great place to admit shortcomings.

That’s not weak. It’s a strength.

And the strength of Jesus is the mask we should all wear.

[resources: books of inspiration]