“No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true” Nathaniel Hawthorne
If you have read any of my writings, you will know that God has been teaching me much about Identity. The truest intent the Creator has for His Creation.
After a great discussion at my men’s bible study today, I came across the above quote. It speaks so clearly about the poser- the image we go to great lengths to project to the world. All the while hiding our true selves behind this “mask” or false image.
It is a wearisome task, being in essence, two-faced. No body likes two faced people! But, in reality, WE ARE ALL TWO FACED TO SOME DEGREE! Some are really good at disguising it while others are not.
What causes us to live behind the poser or mask? I believe it is fear. All fear! Fear that, ” if they really knew “ME” they would run the other way. ”
Fear is developed out of past experience. We all have a “pool” of experiences that dictate our lives. We have perceptions based on experiences- I call them filters. We filter life through them. They can be good or bad filters. It depends on our environment and on the individual. You can have 5 kids living in the same house/ environment, and each of them will be affected differently. They will each filter life uniquely!
Besides our environment and individuality, there is a third component often overlooked. It is the father of lies! Many of my writings have mentioned John 10:10
John 10:10
New Living Translation (NLT)
10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
It is vital to our Life, that we not overlook this. I call the evil one the white elephant in the room. Some acknowledge he is there but give little thought to his schemes. While most don’t even know he’s there! Then there is the small group of folks who are very aware of the father of lies! But unfortunately, they are looked at by the majority as kooks.
Prayer break – ” Father, help me pull this together. give me the words you want me to write. In Jesus name. Amen”
In a previous post, I mentioned that my truest identity is ” as someone loved by Jesus”. I take this from the gospel of John. John referred to himself as ” the disciple whom Jesus loved”. I believe that this IS OUR TRUEST IDENTITY. I think of one of my favorite hymns… “On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, All other ground is shifting sand, all other ground is shifting sand! ” Why was the writer redundant here? He knew he needed to make an exclamation point. If we look to anyone or anything other than Christ for our identity and value… Life will be like standing on shifting sand .. Or quick sand. Or as Mr. Hawthorne so eloquently put it in the above quote. A life of bewilderment, confused – not knowing who we really are!
In order for us to walk in our true identity and purpose, we must know where we are from… I end with this old post from September 13, 2010.
WHERE I’M FROM
http://www.secondtimothyoneseven.com/?p=73
Gods Peace, Jonathan
