Fear holds us back in life more than anything. There are all kinds of different fears people have that hold them back from reaching their dreams and full potential. 

This doesn’t apply to everyone, however I think the fear of letting others know who we REALLY are is one of the biggest threats to real connections with other people. Not only romantic relationships, but our relationships with friends, coworkers, church friends, family members, everyone we encounter. 

Fear causes us to wear proverbial masks, and there are many to choose from depending on present company. I’ve always found it incredibly interesting yet terribly sad that when we first meet someone we feel more free to speak about anything, however once we get a peek behind their mask or they see behind ours we tend to clam up. 

Before any life experiences I expected it would be the opposite. Once we got to know someone we would be more free to be ourselves was my initial thought. Unfortunately, sometimes what happens when we get to know someone, we tend to understand more about their likes and dislikes so we try to conform to what we perceive they want us to be. That’s a big mistake. 

We should never keep relationships that cause us to be anyone other than who we are. We shouldn’t have to be around people that don’t fully accept us. 

For every one person who we aren’t their cup of tea there are at least 100 others that see our value. Those are our people. They see our shine and they like our presence. They are the core members of our life groups and we should keep them close as they keep us close in a give and take reciprocal and respectful relationship. 

Don’t be afraid to be yourself. God made you how He intended you to be. Discover that and live in it. Whoever falls away from us for being ourselves are meant to go. Let them. Let them go live their best life. The main thing is that you live your best as well. 

Life is too short to live in fear. Both fear and faith demand us to believe in something we cannot see. Choose faith. 

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭1‬ ‭NIV

Faith also saves us from eternal separation from God our Father. What a reason to chose faith…

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬