A Case Of The Fakes

Have you ever had a case of the fakes? The time where life knocked you down and somewhere along the way, you decided not to show the real you to the world. You probably thought, “It will just be easier if no one knows who I really am; it will save me from having my feelings hurt. It will just cut down on the drama and I won’t have to justify or defend myself to anyone.” You might think that you’re not worth knowing, and maybe fear of criticism and judgment got in the way. You possibly have a long list of times when you opened up and it didn’t go so well, and rather than remaining true to yourself, you let your insecurities get in the way. I get it, sometimes being fake feels safer and easier than being yourself, and shame can be one of the most common reasons fake living seems like the best option. Shame can keep us from being our true selves because it tells that who we are is not okay, and deep down, we begin to believe that the real us is unacceptable. So to fit in and be loved, we come up with a new version of ourselves, one that looks perfect and more in tune o what others love. Shame wiggles its way into our lives and begins eating away at our self-worth, reminding us of all the times we were put down and ridiculed for being ourselves. It makes us remember moments where we shared the deepest parts of our lives and in return was met with ridicule and judgment, just for being ourselves. Shame is very powerful and can suck the life out of you; it makes a very strong case for you to live a fake life and can steal your happiness. However, God wants to remove anything in your life that is keeping you from being the real you, He does not want you to conform to the world’s standards. He never intended for you to hide away in your “I’m not good enough” feelings, His plan was for you to live as He created you to be, because He’s not for fake living. Our human nature causes us to be afraid of being ourselves and makes it hard to ignore the messages that shame has whispered into our soul. It takes a lot of bravery to be honest about who you really are and it takes guts to stand up and speak out for what you believe, but most of all, it takes grace to stay true to it all. God sees every choice you make to be the real you in a world that loves being fake, and He will be your shield, your victory, and your hope. “But you, O Lord, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high.” -Psalms 3:3 God wrote your biography before you were born. Normally biographies are written based on the past, but God wrote yours deciding your future before you were even thought of. Maybe you’re encountering some obstacles and oppositions, that could be because you’re not walking in the biography He wrote for you. “For we are God’s handiwork, His masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” - Ephesians 2:10