The Real Me
By Kelly Chesnut, Wycliffe USA Deeply Rooted Program Director
Post date: June 17, 2019
If you think about it, it’s pretty amazing and a bit unsettling: God knows everything about you and me.
It’s amazing because he knows what we’re facing and what we need each moment, even before we do. It’s a bit unsettling because God knows everything about you and me. Every little thing, including the parts we try to keep hidden — from him and others. Even knowing what he does, God loves us completely and lavishly. And we don’t have to do anything to earn his love.
Understanding that God knows me and allowing God to know me at my core are two very different things. To be known by God is to invite him into my secret places.
When we come before God, asking him to thoroughly examine us and reveal our sin, we’re acknowledging our brokenness. In Psalm 139:23-24, David extends an invitation for God to know him at the core of his being: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” (NLT).
Honestly, being known by God in a way that reveals my hidden places is a bit scary. Because exposing my disobedience isn’t always private. And while I’m okay with letting God see my brokenness (he’s God after all — full of forgiveness, mercy and grace), I’m not always okay with letting others see it.
Nearly everyone I know (including me) cares what other people think of them. After all, that’s often why we try to hide things from people in the first place. We wonder, What would they think if they knew the real me?
But there’s actually something incredibly freeing when we own our brokenness before God — and before others.
When we posture ourselves before God, asking him to expose our hidden motives and sin, we find mercy, forgiveness and grace in abundance. Not condemnation. Romans 8:1 reminds us of this: “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (NLT).
But when we allow others to see our hidden brokenness and sin, we’re asking to be held accountable by them too. We move from darkness to light, from shame into grace. As we share our brokenness with others, we invite them to experience that same grace with us. James 5:16 prompts: “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (NLT).
Imagine a community of believers who seek to live authentic, vulnerable lives. It’s a community built on restoration and healing — one where our identity is rooted in Christ. Because in the midst of our brokenness, God is in the process of perfecting each of us.
When our identity is rooted in Christ — and not our failures, sin or even others’ opinions of us — we begin to see ourselves as God sees us. When we invite God to access and heal the hidden areas of our hearts, we are restored. It’s through this depth of intimacy that we’re known by God.
Questions for Reflection:
What hidden areas of your life does God want to bring into the light?
In what ways do you need your heart and mind, motives and actions realigned with the truth of God’s Word?
Who is one person that you can share what you’ve learned with as you seek to live authentically before God and others?
Don’t forget to read and reflect more on what it means to be known by God in our devotional guide!
Para leer en Español oprima aquí.