A couple of weeks ago our pastor asked us this question. “Are you honest with God?” At the time, I thought, “Good grief, what a question. Of course we are honest with God. God knows everything about us anyway.”
However, the question kept roaming around in my mind. “Carol, are you honest with God?” I continuously thought about that question. Finally, I realized that I am not honest with God…just as I am at times not honest with people or myself. Many of us have a facade which we think will protect us from the slings and arrows of life. A facade does not do that for us. A facade just keeps other people from knowing who we really are. It keeps others at a distance. That is why we surprise one another so often. We think we know a particular person. He/she then behaves in a way which amazes us…but it is only because the facade slipped.
In order to be honest with God like He would have us be, we have to be honest with ourselves first. If you are anything like I am, I find that complete honesty with myself is a difficult thing to do. And part of the reason, of course, is that I almost always look at my negative self. I really would prefer not to look at the negatives. But we tend to disregard the “neutral” to positive self. Or some people only see the good or even self-aggrandized part of their nature and do not acknowledge the neutral or negative aspects of their beings However, God wants us to be honest with our entire beings.
God wants us to present our authentic selves before Him. He knows who we are. He just wants to make certain that we know who we are as well and that we can use who we are to glorify Him. After all, that is why He put us here in the first place.
Let us take a good look at ourselves and admit to ourselves and to God who we really are…the good, the bad, the ugly…and everything else imaginable. It may take us years to be honest with consistency, but I think we will all find that it is worth the effort…and I think God will be pleased with each one of us as we grow in our personal honesty with God.
Carol
