Defining Moments: "Realness"

Let me give it to you straight... because that's the way I like to do things. You see, I like to be REAL wich you. Yes, I said "wich you". But seriously. I do like to be real. What does that mean.... "real"? I hear people say that a lot. I don't want to be fake, I want to be real. I want to be ME. I want be genuine. I want to be authentic. 

And I will say that I want to be all of those things, as well. 

But I have redefined "real" in my life. When you look at Christians, do you often think: They are hypocrites. They are fake, goody tooshoos who act like they have everything figured out. They aren't genuinely nice, they just act like it because they are supposed to. 

I have actually thought these things about Christians at one point in my life.

But then I started to understand Christians a little better. 

This is kinda how it went: 

 "Ohhh Christians figured out that the "realness" inside of us is most of the time: sinful."

 "Ohhh Christians don't act on every feeling they have because most of the time that leads to bad things, because we are not perfect, and are feelings are certainly not either."

"Ohh Christians seem fake because they are striving to have the Lord change their hearts, and not have human desires."

"Ohhh Christians who love Jesus want to have his heart and that is certainly not naturally inside of us."

"Ohh the Christians who seem genuine are the ones who truly have let the Lord change their heart so that the Lord's desires have now become their desires."

See, I don't think that people know that God has called Christians to be kinda "fake". We are to "put off our old self" (Ephesians 4:22) and put on a new self, which is in Christ. The Bible says "Our heart is deceitful above all else" Jeremiah 17:9. If Christians deny their heart because it is deceitful, they are gonna seem kinda fake to you. And I will say I thought that life was better when I was "true to my feelings", but I was wrong... If I was true to my feelings I would walk away from people sometimes because I didn't want to talk to them anymore. Or I would embarrass my boyfriend in front of people because I didn't "feel like" being nice. I'd say that in those examples, its pretty mean to be "real". 

It is true that sometimes our hearts do not line up with God's heart and yet we force ourselves to do the right thing. This is fake. And also human. I would rather be fake and live for the Lord, than be real and bask in my sinful desires and behaviors. Eventually as God works on my heart, I hope my desires will line up with His and my heart will be more and more genuine. 

Only the Lord can change hearts, and it is truly a miracle when it happens.