Tuesday, February 6, 2024

For many, life has turned into painting a beautiful display of themselves to the rest of the world. We jump on social media and show everyone how we want to be seen, only shining a light on the surface. But the shadows hide the broken pieces.

The world we live in is often like a camera. It captures moments, but we spend so much time focusing on them that we fail to really live in them, or dig much deeper. But God calls us to draw closer to him and reflect on our hearts to discern where growth is needed. Just like the story Ben shared from Luke 13:6-9, we need to give special attention to what is happening—why we are in the state we find ourselves in.

Proverbs 27:19
As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person.

Ben said the attention we need is to get curious about who we are at our core. We have to look at the underlying issues beneath our problems. But how do we go about doing that?

I know from experience that it’s strenuous to only show your face reflected in the water. It took someone pointing out the hurt behind my eyes before I finally acknowledged the problem. A few more years passed before I grabbed a pen, began writing it down, and eventually read through it to discover the root of my mess.

One of my favorite books (and movies) is Finding Fish: A Memoir. Antwone Fisher had a history of anger issues that stopped him from growing. A mentor helped him work through his first problem, resulting in Antwone sharing insight into the heartaches of his life.

Although it took years of “heart work” for Antwone and me to understand how to get better, it wouldn’t have been possible if people hadn’t helped us unlock those doors. God uses others to help us turn the pages, to reach the next chapters in our lives.

We can manipulate our faces to reflect what we want others to see, but Proverbs 27:19 reminds us that the health of our hearts is reflected in our character and actions. By turning our hearts to God and surrounding ourselves with life-giving people, we can begin to give attention to those areas in our lives that need it, making it unnecessary to hide behind a mask.

Questions:
Do you understand that no one has a perfect life? What do you see when you start looking into your heart? Does it require special attention? Are you surrounding yourself with people who will lovingly help you see below the surface?

Next Steps:
Read Scripture and attend church services to build a deeper relationship with God. Join a Group. Once you connect with other Christ followers and build life-giving relationships, you will be more comfortable sharing the parts of your life you keep hidden.

Celebrate Recovery is also a great option. This Christ-centered program, offered each week at our Whitehouse, West, and Oregon campuses, is for adults struggling with a hurt, habit, or hangup.

Prayer:
God, I am blessed to be here to have more opportunities to grow into the person I am meant to be. Help me take the time to use the tools you gave me to heal my heart to be better for myself and others. Let my heart reflect the love you graciously give. Amen.

Series Theme Verse:

2 Peter 1:3
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

Today’s post was written by Jaron Camp, a regular contributor to the LivingItOut.