Everyone has a story. A mixture of good events, bad events, challenges, wins, excitement, disappointments and in all of it, a lot of learning! If you’re like me (and most of instagram!), we are excellent at sharing the good events, the wins, and the excitement, but are way more hesitant to post the selfie of “I actually woke up like this” or “I came last in this event” or “I’m actually struggling with x-y-z”. When we choose to focus our conversations and/or social media posts on just the good parts, we are only sharing half the story of what is really going on in our lives and therefore robbing people of being able to know who we are. And even more importantly, showing that God is good and faithful on our good days AND our bad days.
I am definitely guilty of this, and especially before I started this blog, very few people actually knew the behind the scenes, not-so-perfect parts of my life. It’s so much easier and nicer to post the picture in my activewear with a big smile and the caption #iloverunning, instead of a picture of me on the ground about to pass out because I was not in a good place and would run so hard that I would feel so sick most of the time. But this world does not need more perfect pictures - there are already millions. Looking like we have the perfect life, and are all put together show the lies that firstly, we have it all figured out, and secondly, that we don’t need Jesus because we are under control. There is so much pressure to be “liked” and as a teen in particular, I was really struggling with rejection and feeling invisible, and I was trying so hard to fit in with the group. I thought that if people ever saw that I was not perfect, that they would never want to talk to me, so I made every effort to always show my best self. However, all that did was make me seem unapproachable and ostracized me further. When we hear a story about how someone overcame hardship, we go “me too! I can relate!” But when we see the insta-perfect model shot on the beach, we feel a range of negative emotions like comparison, jealousy, and discontentment. Admitting we are not perfect, is actually how we can relate to people, and brings community, relationship, and a healthy perspective of our own lives. Plus, it gives us an opportunity to admit that we can’t do life on our own, and that we need Jesus every day. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not easy - it takes courage, vulnerability, and a whole lot of trust. Sometimes, you won’t know yet whether you can trust someone when you share parts of your story. There is definitely a place for keeping things private, especially when others are involved, and for protection of very personal information, and this post is not saying you have to spill your guts about every single thing in your life. It’s just a challenge to take a step towards being more authentic and open. And an encouragement to sit down with a piece of paper, and write down all the things that God has brought you through. Your testimony isn’t just a ‘fill in the blank’ template of how you came to know Jesus. All the things in your life that have brought you to where you are today are part of your testimony. A testimony is a story of God’s personal faithfulness to YOU and that is what is so encouraging, inspiring, relatable, and needs to be shared more often.
Yes, it’s good to focus on the positives, and if you only share all the hard or negative parts of your life, you are still only telling part of your story. Share the challenges, the struggles, how God helped you, and then how you overcame, to get to where you are now. You never know who might be listening and is going through the exact thing that you share, and needs to hear your story and be encouraged.
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