shattering the masks:

Freedom living. It does not come without a price. The price requires trust...trusting in God over trusting yourself. It requires humility...admitting that we don't have all the answers...that we aren't always all-self-sufficient....admitting that we need. That we need to love and need to be loved. admitting that we hurt...that others hurt us, that we can't always protect our hearts...that we aren't always bullet-proof. It means, basically...that we rip off the masks and start being real. Being truthful with ourselves and with others. Now, i'll have to warn you...this also requires something called vulnerability and genuine living! And if you are a real leader...a truly strong leader...you will take the lead in this type of living.

For, "Those who have never learned how to apply the healing Jesus brings to their lives will always hide their sin. Numerous leaders can affirm n teach the significance of redemption, but many in these roles have no idea how to apply their theology to who they are. This gap is harder for leaders to acknowledge bc these leaders have been elevated to positions that r 2 valuable to them 2 risk exposing what is true about themselves." TrueFaced

And you and I can begin to impact others as genuine leaders of true integrity once we adorn the identity of the true self that God has created us as...with all of our faults and failures laid bare. How else will we grow personally? And how else will we influence a nation to face truth...a group of people to embrace the fullness of growth and intimacy in Christ? A family circle to bear one another's burdens and to live life fully beside each other in a love that knows no limits of grace? To truly love...is to truly embrace...all that another encompasses.

If we deny ourselves to lay ALL that we are before the King of Kings...then we deny ourselves the chance to embrace ALL that Christ has to offer us in this life: The fullness of freedom, grace, redemption, intimacy of knowing and being known, growth, influence...we settle for less than. We cheapen our faith at the cost of fear.

Let us be a generation that truly embraces truth...whatever the cost. The subsequent results are priceless.