Who are you?  Who do you show the world?

So many of us wear masks.  We hide who we really are, what we really feel, what we really think, what we really believe.  We do this so we can feel accepted.  Comforted.  Loved.  But when we wear a mask so the world will love us, do they love me, or do they love the mask?

I remember hearing a story one time of a van being pulled over by a cop.  The van had kids hanging out of windows yelling inappropriate things or making obscene gestures.  When the cop pulled over the van, the driver apologized for the kids behavior, but the cop stopped him.  “I pulled you over because I thought the vehicle had been stolen,” the cop said.  “Why did you think that?”  The cop answered, “when I saw that the van had a church’s name written on the side of it, I thought there was no way it could truly have had people that believed in their God would act the way you were acting.”

It is a harsh reality that we live in.  People see how we act, what we do, what we say.  We mask ourselves in different environments so we can better adapt to the people in them.  But what kind of facade are we wearing?  What kind of costume are we dressing up in?

When we wear the guise that others want us to wear, do they love us or the mask?  What are we sacrificing when we masquerade as something we are not?  The truth is we sacrifice ourselves. Psalm139:14 says, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

The author said that all that God made was wonderful.  That includes me.  That includes you.  When you hide behind the mask of sex, drugs, alcohol, pride, silence, you are choosing to believe you are not good enough, that God made a mistake.  There is nothing further from the truth.  I serve a God that loves everything about you.  He made you the way you are and to Him, you are a masterpiece.  Stop hiding.  Stop the lie.

When you take off the mask, who are you really?