Some of you may have read that I did the four-year required renewal of ye ole' driver license this week and the resulting pic was most certainly not the same mental pic that my bathroom mirror sent me out into the world with that same morning. The sweet owner of the Tag Agency even let me RETAKE the pic - Haha! Somewhere between awesome hair day and the 1-2-3 click of the camera, I apparently got stung by a bee. Either that or I got caught red-handed smuggling acorns in my cheeks for the impending winter of 2015!? And to my sweet Bible Study Sista Michelle...I can now relate to what "Meh" feels like...
Later that day, I drove to the lady doctor for my annual exam...I made the appointment a year ago, so please note that I did not plan this day, the day completely planned me. As I stepped on the dreaded scales, I became painfully aware that they had totally conspired against me with the camera at the Tag Agency! They were (falsely) confirming that I had indeed NOT been stung by a bee, nor was there any sign of squirrel-like activity...How's that for a Monday? And when the doctor asked how it was going, "just keeping it real" was both the truth and worthy of an OB/GYN chuckle.
John 8:32 tells us that "you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free".
I also saw a quote by Gloria Steinem on my step-mom's Facebook wall this week that said "The truth will set you free, but first it will p*ss you off". (Sorry for the language, but I am truthfully quoting).
And I think both John and Gloria are 'keeping it real'. I was not happy with the Driver License pic nor was I with the number on the scale. But as I let both of those speed bumps play out in the highway of my mind, I realized - you know what? I was okay with me when I woke up this morning, and even with these new truths, I am okay with me as I call it a day - The truth set me free.
I realized that our truths are sometimes distorted. We enjoy looking in the mirrors of life and seeing only what we want to see. So when the reality of our truth is clinking the scale a little farther to the right, and a little farther, it hurts. And then...I turned on the news. What is the truth anymore for our society? How do we know that what we see or read is what we should believe? We talked about this last week in our Women's Bible Study group. We read, and forward, and like, and favorite, and we are simply perpetuating the story, but have we taken the time to research if we are on the side of truth before we hit send? My profile picture on some of my social media sites is one I can live with (why can't I put it on my license?) but the daily reality is that I look like I got stung by a bee, forgot to drink my four cups of coffee, and that my flatiron is on the fritz. We put out there what we want people to see. WE. We are all guilty...truth hurts.
Back in March my "You Are Making Me Crazy" devotional said the following (summarized): Human nature wants to be liked, so we compromise, divert, punt, and leave out the truth...We have grown to rely on some common 'Cop-Outs' "I'll leave that up to God" or "Everybody has to make up their own mind". One day you will give an account before God. We need to change what we say, what we do, and who we impress. Do we want to disappoint God by what we just said or did? Or are we worried about disappointing a person? Jesus did not deny us on the cross, He didn't back down! He died for me, saved me, forgave me. Integrity is more important than popularity. Tell the truth and let the chips fall.
So here are my chips:
1. My license says I weigh 110#...which I did...in November of 1992. That is the truth.
2. I most definitely did not weigh 110#...in June 2015. That is the truth.
3. I will not tell you what it should say. Truth.
4. I am not at a place in my life that it is convenient for me to work out two or more hours a day. Now, I could sacrifice a few things here and there and make time...if I wanted to, but alas, my ambition fails me. That is the truth.
5. I really like food and adult beverages (in moderation of course). I try to be good for the most part, but my will-power is about as big as that organ donor box on my Driver License. Truth.
6. I want to impress God by loving every pound of who He made me to be, not strive to be a size 4 that society embraces regularly. Both are truths for me, but the struggle 'keeps it real'.
Titus 2:7-8 in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.
Truth is a lifestyle. Are we living lives that conscientiously mean to do only right? Do we act in agreement with the truth? If something someone says to you (or a photo reveals to you!) hurts, maybe we should remove ourselves from the situation and figure out why it hurts. Operate out of Titus 2:7-8 rather than heat-of-the-moment captured on a cell phone and uploaded to YouTube. The example here is that I could have went all "red-head" on my doctor about how wonky his scales were and demand a do-over because in my mind that number was blown completely out of proportion. But, the truth is, the second opinion, would have revealed a painfully close if not the exact same number. So I chose to be dignified and make him laugh. And while this is a 0.1111 on a scale of 1-10 of what is happening in our society, we can set the example in every aspect of our lives, great or small. The truth is always the truth, no matter what reflection is staring back at us.
So here's to a new pic on my Driver License, a clean-bill of health for another year, and raising a glass to Titus! May God bless you with the ability to discern, embrace, and live out new truths!
No comments:
Post a Comment