I have noticed that I am a different person with different people. It is subtle, but noticeable to me now that I am trying to be more aware of my motives and thought processes. With my parents I behave more like a child. With my children I have more of a parent face, and they don’t quite know who I am with others. With some friends I am more spiritual, and with others more surface. I would hope that I am real to all of them…but I find that I am not that consistent with it. Sometimes I feel like a chameleon. But yet…these faces are all me. Part of me, and my truth.
To a point, we all have different faces with different situations…work, love, church, friends, and all of them are some part of our truth.
But, how much of what we show is not really us?
Deep down we can carry bitterness, resentment, envy and different types of insecurities. We often show a happy face to the world, and even to those who love us, and go through life bogged down with burdens? It’s when our faces become masks that reality gets further from the truth. We hide from others, and often even from ourselves.
It gets tiring having all these facades to maintain. Is it too hard to bring it all together, and show all of the people in our lives the same face? Are we only cranky and nasty to those we feel the safest with? Or with those we figure we have nothing to lose from? All of us are different. I have friends that are actually quite different in public…often to the point where I stand beside them and cringe, wondering where their behavior comes from. After all, they don’t act like that when I am with them one on one, or when we are in a group of friends. I, personally, tend to be crankiest with my family…maybe there is a level of safety in that, and I hope they love me no matter what they see.
There comes a point when we have to start becoming transparent…to ourselves and others. Living in the truth erases all need for a facade.
As we seek the face of Jesus, our faces start to reflect His truth, and His love. By being immersed in His Spirit on a daily basis, we can start to eliminate the rough surfaces and the truth of who we are becoming starts to shine through.
The good thing is that we can always start fresh. We can still work on what causes us to hide from the truth, and from others. Every day is a new day to seek His face, and eventually we will have nothing to hide.