The More Accurate Portrayal | 09.09.12

Not too long ago, I made a comment on a friend's Facebook status that reads as follows:

"...we must embrace the fact that there's more to us than most people will ever see.  We toil, stress and go broke to create an image that is--at the end of the day--an inaccurate portrayal of who we really are."

There comes a time in each person's life when you must be so comfortable in your own skin that you could care less what anyone, even those closest to you, may think about you.  I've had to come to this hard realization in my own life.  I can't afford to make people see what I want them to see because -- at the end of the day -- they're only going to see what THEY want to see.  That's right: right or wrong, people will come to their own conclusions because men (Christians included) see the outer appearance, but GOD knows the intent of the heart (1 Samuel 16:7; Jeremiah 17:10).

In understanding this, we clearly see then that our efforts to impress and/or please other people are pointless.  If we stand a great chance of being misunderstood trying to be what others find preferable (or even worse, what we think will impress them), then why bother trying at all?  Why can't we just be ourselves?  Why must we seek the validation (or approval) of others to feel better about ourselves?  Why are we wasting our time, energy and money trying to portray someone else's fantasy?  People will NEVER be able to see the totality of who you REALLY are, so why put yourself through the trouble of changing so they can misunderstand this alterior personality you've created also?

We are fearfully and wonderfully made by GOD Almighty (Psalms 139:14).  If we change ANYTHING about ourselves, it should be to intent of transforming the outer man into one more resembling the inner man.  As new creatures in Christ, our spirit man is perfect and is the unseen replica of the glorified body we will receive upon the return of our Christ when we are changed (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).  Until then, we ought strive to not be conformed to this world, as it says in Romans 12:2; but we should rather undergo a life long process of transformation that focuses on our minds being renewed, so we can begin to think like that perfect spirit man within.  And as we start to think more like the spirit man, we will begin to act more like the spirit man.  Little by little, the transformation becomes more evident; and even if people NEVER notice, we notice the change and so does GOD.