Authenticity...

What does it mean to be authentic? Original, faithful, pure, trustworthy, credible, valid,  certain. Each of these things can be found in your identity in Christ. I once read a paraphrased quote from Leslie Ludy's book "Authentic Beauty" that had much truth and meaning. She quoted Oswald Chambers in saying, "By realizing the reality of our Prince within us, we are never bothered again by the fact that we do not understand ourselves, or that other people do not understand us. The only One who truly understands me is the One who made me and redeems me... It is a tremendous freedom to get rid of every kind of self- consideration and learn to care about only one thing- the relationship between our Prince and ourselves." Why does this concept seem to be so difficult? Our world today screams "you won't be happy until you have this" or "you need to be the best", but what we often times overlook as a Christ follower is that we truly have all that we need living on the inside of us. Our identity should be found in the One who created us, who knows us best. When we begin to tap into this realization, we no longer worry about pleasing others. It breaks my heart to live in a generation where eating disorders are started by young teenage girls because they feel as if they don't add up to the woman on the cover of "Vogue". An authentic woman of God is one who is original. It's time this generation stands up and accepts others for who they are rather than producing replicas of the same image. I believe that many insecurities would be erased if people were confident in being themselves. Trust the Creator with the creation He made. Love each individual for their unique gifts that He's given them. In doing these things, freedom is found.