We rely too much on ourselves, and too little on God.

Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ~Matthew 6.25

Gosh, wouldn’t it be so cool if we could see the world, others, and ourselves as God does. Gosh, wouldn’t it be so cool if we could live life as if God was at our side, sometimes pulling, sometimes pushing us along. Encouraging us. Believing in us. Loving on us. Too bad we spend our lives thinking we are alone in the battle. Too bad that we spend so much time and energy hiding the authentic person that God needs to be fully activated. Too bad that we wear our Spanx so tight that even God can’t get in.

But all of that is a decision we are making. And decisions can be changed, altered, reversed.

Spanx are good to manage people’s perceptions about our body. They help with our body image, our self-esteem. They make clothes feel more comfortable. None of this happens when we Spanx our real uniqueness. We end up in constant state of withdrawal, uncertainty, fear of discovery.

We overthink our ideas.

We underthink our value.

We are in constant comparison of our insides with everyone else’s outsides.

We are in continuous denial of authenticity.

We rely too much on ourselves, and too little on God.

Sad part of all of this is that when you do this for years and years, it starts to feel normal. I don’t think God sees it that way.

His normal is a little different…no Spanx involved!

Ah, the bumps and wiggles that a Spanx hides. I don’t deny I need the stupid little invention. But too often, I deny the existence of the real me. I deny that there is someone else – the real me – lurking under the tight reins I have wrapped around myself.

We are in continuous denial of authenticity. Deep down we know who we are. Deep down we know exactly the kind of person that we want to be. But we expend a great deal of energy in denying that the authentic ‘me’ is what God really wants us to expose to the world. Better that I masquerade, than I unmask!! Better that I expend my energies hiding.

But what might happen if you take a step beyond the protective covering? What’s the worse thing that could happen? Really.

Brennan Manning wrote ‘there is a beautiful transparency to honest disciples who never wear a false face and do not pretend to be anything but who they are.’

We are in constant comparison of our insides with everyone else’s outsides.

Ah, the black ooze of the real me.

And ah, the seeming perfection of everyone else – they look and smell and talk and act and think perfectly. Or do they…???

The face that we, and everyone else, show to the world is as close to perfect as we can possibly get it. It’s only when we honestly look inside ourselves that we see the blackness. Then we look around our world at the bright, shiny faces of the inauthentic. And we come up short. We tighten up the Spanx a bit. We, too, need to present the inauthentic perfection so that everyone has something to compare themselves to, so they can come up short.

And around and around it goes.

But the vicious circle can be stopped. We each have to remember that everyone has their own story. Everyone has their own black ooze to deal with. And reacting to others by tightening up our hold on our uniqueness defeats God’s purposes. People excel in so many ways when they are in authentic community with each other. When everyone ungirds and releases. But inauthentic people will sit it out, rest on the bench on the sidelines. Never engaging.

Before Jesus left earth to go to heaven, he walked on the beach with Peter.  A ways behind, walked John. Jesus had just forgiven Peter for denying that he knew him when Jesus really needed him. Instead of feeling the full weight of the burden that had just been lifted, Peter chose to compare.  As Peter glanced back at John…

When Peter saw him, he asked, Lord, what about him? Jesus answered, If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me. ~John 21.20-22

No matter what seeming perfection you see when you look at others – when you glance back, I ask you…what is that to you?

Next Spanx:  We are in continuous denial of authenticity.

When you wear a Spanx, you tighten up all of the wiggles and bumps of a normal body. You keep it all buttoned up in a tight corset of protection. Deceiving yourself and others about your true body. Love Spanx!

But too often we use the same philosophy to hide – to Spanx – our God-given uniqueness. Here’s one way we do that…

We underthink our value. For me, this plaques me most when I am surrounded by people who appear more creative, quicker with their comments, sharper with their communication. It’s a comparison game I too often lose.

God knew us before we were even born. He knows how many hairs we have on our head. He knows what we think, what we love, what we worry about. And he knows what talents, gifts and abilities he gave us. He knows what we are capable of doing and being. He did not create us to hide ourselves in a corner, or under a layer of girdled rayon. He created us to add value to the world.

Craig Groeschel says, “You are not who people say you are.  You are who God says you are.”

So, we should strive first to see ourselves as God sees us – to see and realize and internalize the value he sees in us. Take off the Spanx and let it out. Show the world what God created you to be.

Only let me live up to what I have already attained for which God called me. ~Phil. 3.16

Next Spanx: We are in constant comparison of our insides to everyone else’s outsides!