Express Yourself

I read an interesting statistic the other day. Apparently people who argue on a regular basis are twice as likely to live longer than those who suppress their feelings.

This surprised me. I’ve always related arguing with stress and stress is a known factor for shortening lives.

But what that particular statistic tells me is that it’s not about the arguing; it’s about the need to express ourselves. It tells me the importance of being real and honest – with ourselves, with our partners, with every relationship we have.

And I think it’s most especially important to be honest with our Lord because this relationship, more than any other, matters most in our lives. This relationship will have the greatest impact to our lives and it will affect every other.

So, tell God about your happiness, tell Him about your delights. Tell Him about the things that upset you and the things that make you angry. Tell him your hopes and your dreams. Tell Him your secrets.

God will never turn away from you. He won’t think less of you. He will love you. He will give you His time, His patience, His forgiveness, His guidance.

He will give you everything you need.

Do you find it difficult to be honest with our Lord?

On Lying

Lying is bad, right? It’s a sin because it’s a deception and it breaks trust. But is all lying bad?

We lie to build people up. When a friend asks if they look good, then our reply is generally yes. It’s only cruel to point out they are looking a little tired. It’s only mean to highlight their weight gain. It’s insensitive to suggest they would benefit from visiting a hairdresser they can’t afford. All those things are irrelevant anyway. And so we lie.

We lie to preserve the peace. A friend of mine claimed she paid only $200 for a ring. I was with her when she bought it and so I knew it cost her triple the amount. She needed me to agree with her. I knew an argument would follow if I reminded her of the truth, so I claimed I couldn’t remember. It was an easy way out.

We lie to protect our loved ones. We lie to protect ourselves. We lie to save someone’s feelings. We lie to support our friends. We lie to cover embarrassment.

It’s easy to justify lying. But it doesn’t make it right. These white lies are part of the “little” sins I spoke of yesterday.

God will never lie to us. We can completely trust Him 100% of the time. God doesn’t have moods to pander to. He doesn’t need to make himself look better than He is and He is able to protect us without deception.

There are ways of saving someone’s feelings, protecting someone’s safety, avoiding arguments without lying and without being so brutally honest that we end up hurting someone.

When Jesus said, “everyone who sins is a slave to sin,” he wasn’t lying. (John 8:34)

So, walk away from the chains Jesus broke and strive to be more like him.

In Hiding

Do you ever hide things? Do you hide things from other people? Do you hide things from yourself? Do you try to hide things from God?

Some scientists are obsessed with hiding things. Those from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany and the Imperial College in London claim to have made a small bump on a gold surface disappear using a sheet made of photonic crystal.

The “invisibility cloak” is only 100 microns by 30 microns. (One micron = one thousandth of a millimetre). And the bump they made vanish was 10x smaller again. So, we are talking miniscule. Smaller than a freckle. Smaller than a speck.

It might sound inconsequential, but it’s a big step in science.

Do you put this much effort into trying to hide things? Have you been carrying around secrets?

While I am impressed by the scientists’ efforts, I’m also reminded that we can’t hide anything from God. He sees all and knows all.

We can’t pretend with God that everything is superdooper when really it’s not. He knows the truth. He wants us to share with Him all these things we hold locked up inside. It’s not because He needs to know what’s going on inside us. He already knows. It’s because we need to tell Him. We need to be honest with Him – and honest with ourselves. We need to give Him our lives, not just a small portion of our lives. We need to give Him our everything.

And we need to be Real.

Pray to God and ask Him to show you what you’ve been hiding from yourself. Pray for the courage to hear the truth.