Authentic Relationships

God created us to be in constant relationship.  First, relationship with Him, and then relationship with one another.  We are not meant to live this life alone. Yet so many of us walk around with a mask on, rarely revealing who we really are. We only want people to see the 'good' stuff in our lives. In the mean time, we create walls around our hearts and our lives.  We become so isolated from connecting with people that eventually we stop connecting with God.  I know, I've been there.  I have been so lost inside my own pain and my own fears.  I have believed the lie that we need to have it all together before we can let people truly see who we are. I spent too much of life living like this to know that this is not living.  This is far from the abundant life that God desires for His children.  We were created for relationship; true, genuine, authentic, healthy, beautiful relationship.

I believe this is the biggest thing missing in our churches and the world today. Because from authentic relationships and genuine people flows God's love, forgiveness, grace, peace, and everything else we are missing. The church, and I'm talking about the Body of Christ, not just the building, is supposed to be a place where someone can come who has messed up, who is broken, who is battling addiction, who is lonely.  It is supposed to be for those who have the ability to admit they don't have it together. The Body of Christ is a place where people can walk through life together.  We were created to need the love and support of others.

So if this is how we were created to live, why is it so hard to find? I think there are two reasons: the excuse of being busy and fear. I will be the first to admit, life is busy.  A lot of times a person has multiple responsibilities and it is easy to just start going through the motions just to get done with everything.  This happens. But at what cost do we spend our time focusing on our own busy lives? We let our relationships fall by the wayside and miss out on amazing opportunities to be the Body of Christ. People need you. Chances are someone is struggling today, just waiting for encouragement from a friend, from you. Life may be busy. I know what busy looks like. Yet I have seen how much it means to someone when you show up in their darkest hour.  I have known what it feels like to be hurt and alone, and have everyone tell you they are too busy to be there for you.  I am not asking people to break commitments. I am not saying what you do with your time is a bad thing. I am simply asking you to consider the relationships in your life.  We are created to live our lives together. We need genuine, authentic relationships, no matter how busy we are. I pray our hearts would be opened to living life together.

This next reason is fear.  And it's a big one that stands in the way of being authentic.  Therefore, we are going to hold off on looking at fear until tomorrow. I will also share a little bit about my journey and the fear in my life. My prayer is that we would begin to recognize the need for authenticity in our lives. I believe this is a concept that with the power of God, can move mountains.  I believe it can change lives.