We hear a lot of about living authentically but what does that really mean anyway? I looked it up. Authentic means:
- to be genuine;
- to be made or done in a way that faithfully resembles the original
- relating to, or denoting an emotionally appropriate, significant, purposive, and responsible mode of human life. New Oxford American Dictionary
If we are believers, that original would mean God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son. But I sometimes feel like the psalmist in Psalm 123 where he basically is saying enough is enough! I have had it! I am looking to You God to give me favor, grace and kindness and I will keep looking to You until it comes. In my circumstances it would be, hey fellow believers, let us say what we mean and mean what we say! We want to show how God’s truth CAN change our life and circumstances.
If we are to be like the Original, that means we are living out our lives as closely as we can to that of our Heavenly Father. We don’t:
- Nod our heads and say amen on Sunday morning to the pastor’s message and then go out and live and move where our circumstances and feelings takes us
- Live one way on Sunday and post and give an entirely different view of ourselves on Facebook Monday
- Act in a manner that makes others stumble or question what it is to be a Christ-follower
- Let everything else come before seeking God daily in quiet time
- Be led by what’s going on and our feelings rather than seeking His face to guide and direct us in our EVERY move and thought.
- Don’t listen when that feeling comes over us and we know the Holy Spirit is correcting us.
- We don’t take immediate action on what He tells us we must do or change in our lives
God wants us not to just believe He exists, but to really BELIEVE Him. He is the faithful One and will help us make our authentic living more than just a buzz word. It is making a conscious choice to live and think differently. So let’s allow our authentic living to take us to places in our walk with Jesus where others will see more of the Original. I’m not perfect by any sense of the imagination, but the eyes of my heart are open to see where I can make authenticity a reality with Jesus help. How do you live out your life with authenticity?
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