Just saw an article on Mashable.com about Daisy Ridley extoling the values of being yourself, and I applaud her. Daisy posted a picture of herself on Instagram without make up and with no filters.
Feelings create the need to filter.
Feeling unworthy.
Feeling lonely.
Feeling disrespected.
I tell my students all the time, “Feelings are great liars.”
Feeling also lie to youth workers.
Youth Workers filter their life through
How many students do I have?
How much fun does it look like we’re having?
How well did the altar call go?
We filter our lives and ministries through perceived successes so others will think we are successful.
I went to a mega church conference once and the one thing I noticed was that this mega-youth pastor did not share one fault with the program, not one misstep, not one way in which they failed. These omissions made him very plastic and inhuman to me. I don’t trust people who cannot tell me the last time they failed.
I make it a habit of telling my students where I blow it in my own walk with God, times I did not listen to the Spirit, the time I was not loving or kind. Sharing this, in moderation. makes my true successes even more valuable and authentic to the students I minister to. The see my whole life and not just my filtered life.
[bctt tweet=”Resist the temptation to filter your life with perceptions instead of realities. ” username=”@paulturnertoo”]
Resist the temptation to shade or color your failures.
Let God love you as is, unfiltered; and if others love you the same way, that’s a bonus.
Your Turn
This is a safe place. Share your last program or life fail below, unfiltered.