One of the hardest things in my life is being open about my flaws. I am a perfectionist and even as I have written this devotional, I have struggled. I want everything to be just right and I don’t ever want to look like I don’t have it all together. I can acknowledge where some of these tendencies come from but it certainly does not fix it quickly. There is a lot of damage to my heart and just to be open and honest about it, I don’t want to open my heart up much of the time. I am extremely selective about who I am open with. I want to keep it protected and safe and comfortable and that’s that. But I think I miss out on so much by keeping it that way, and I don’t believe that’s how God intended for it to be.

I know from Genesis 2 that God does not desire for us to be alone – He created us with relationship in mind, first with Him and second with others. To have healthy relationships, being open and honest is mandatory, first with God, and then with others. I believe the best place to start is being open and honest with God. It builds trust with Him to just talk to Him about everything, even the unpleasant stuff. He does not always talk back, usually doesn’t, but just verbalizing things to Him is such a relief. It is also essential to have people we can share with and talk to this way.

People are imperfect and they will not always accept everything we say or do the way that God does, but I think if we start small and become intentional about being open, we can learn that opening ourselves up to others isn’t as detrimental as we might think. This is a challenge I face on a regular basis and I have included a song today that reminds me that I am allowed to be, and supposed to be, broken. There is no reason to hide it or try to cover it up or try to appear to be something other than that. I hope it helps you today to be reminded of that, too.

Listen: