A little lesson learned

Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2

I spent most of my life hiding behind ideals and perfectionism. I thought (and still do at times) that I must have the ideal life for anyone including God to love me...always afraid of sharing anything that I struggled with. Since I have come closer to God, I find that transparency is the only way we show that we truly are the body of Christ. Women especially, feel that we must always "keep it together" and pretend our lives are perfect. There is such pressure on us to keep our families pristine, be the greatest mother and wife, to look beautiful, to have the cleanest house, to be the gourmet cook etc. This can be quite maddening in the least, I know too well. If we fall short in one of these areas, we fear that the religious police are going to flag us down and beat us to death with a righteous (or self-righteous) hammer. The sad part is, we sometimes have that view of God, we think he is the religious police and that is just not the case! Thank God!  And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. Romans 8:38

How can we lift one another up and pray for one another if we don't share with fellow believers what our struggles are. Should we live in fear, isolation, and despair? No! The enemy tells us lies as such. Truth is,we should be walking in faith; it sits in opposition to fear. In doing this, we can be shining examples to others who are living low in spirit, needing comfort and hope. Our Father in heaven promises us in scripture that He will be there for us without any exceptions. Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28

I know it is not easy to lay our pride aside and share with others and also not easy to lay down burdens before God. If you are like me, you often take it back somehow, it weighs me down. Praying for Him to help us be more open, more humble, and less prideful is what He truly wants from us. After all, our hearts belong to Him!