Pulling off our Masks.....

Have you ever met someone and watched their interaction with you and other people and thought to yourself, "How fake"?  I know I have.  I have also been guilty of presenting myself one way to people that may not be indicative of my true nature.  I try not to do that anymore.  I want people to be able to say that I am the same person and act the same way no matter where they see me or what the situation may be.  Not everyone is that way.  Many people choose to wear masks and hide their true selves for whatever reason from those they meet every day.

We use masks to hide depression, hurts, and scars. I find we wear masks to cover up our feelings of unworthiness more than we do anything else. Feelings of not being worthy can translate into insecurity and a lack of self esteem, particularly in women. We want to feel accepted and loved so we put on these masks and attempt to be something we cannot truly be without the intervention of Jesus Christ. We try to make everything look so perfect from the outside, when inside there is a struggle for our souls taking place.



I am a huge Twilight Zone fan.  You know... that science fiction TV show from the 50's and 60's hosted by Rod Serling?  I watch every marathon when it comes on TV.  It is hokey, but I love it.  There is one episode in particular that I really like.  It is called The Masks. It is about a dying man that forces his family to wear masks he gave them during a Mardi Gras party.  They could not take them off until the appointed time. 

 

The man's family didn't leave them on the entire amount of time he demanded, so when they took off the masks, their faces were left in the contorted shapes of the masks they had been wearing.  The point of the episode is to show that often what we have on the inside of us will be represented in our faces and there is nothing we can do to cover it up. 

 

While Rod Serling used TV to make a point of the true nature of mankind that fact remains we use masks to cover up what is really going on inside of us; we don't want to reveal what is really inside. 

We all have known people that have attempted to cover up what was really going on from time to time in their lives.  All of a sudden, a seemingly perfect couple divorces; a child commits suicide; someone inexplicably begins shooting in a school; a teenage girl gets pregnant.  We may have done many things in our lives and not believe that we are worthy of accepting the love of our Father God.  We may believe that someone else is more deserving than we are.  The fact is this:  None of us are worthy or deserving of the love of the Father. 

 

Romans 3:23  For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

 

The fact is: it really doesn't matter what we have done in our lives.  He still loves us.  He still sent His Son to die.

 

John 3:16, 17 - "For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

 

Jesus Christ was not sent to condemn us of everything we have ever done...or will do...wrong.  The enemy would like for us to stay decieved and defeated and believe that we are condemned beyond the point of no return.  But Paul said in Romans 8:1:

 

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

 

We are all on an equal playing field.  We all sin.  We all must ask forgiveness with repentance in our hearts. But praise God...we are not condemned!  When Satan tries to tell us we are not good enough, we have messed up too bad, we can't go back....God won't take us back...whatever he tries to tell us, we can with boldness and confidence say to the devil Romans 8:1. 

 

Why must we wear masks when there is such joy and hope and victory in the Word of God?  The people of the Kingdom of God need to show a lost and dying world the reality of life in Christ Jesus.  It is not a life of perfection.  It is a life of love, forgiveness, grace and mercy.