This week has been an intense one for me. I have made some personal discoveries that were uncomfortable.
But I’ll speak about that in a minute.
What has been really beautiful to me is observing people who have allowed themselves to be vulnerable in front of me. These people have witnessed to me by being bare naked in their insecurities. They have allowed me into their personal space so I could come alongside them and give them some encouragement to keep it moving.
The reason I call this bare naked faith is because being naked is the absolute last thing most of us want to be in front of anyone but our intimate friends and family only if absolutely necessary. Many times we aren’t even naked with ourselves.
I’m speaking of being spiritually naked.
What that means is we take good hard looks at ourselves, putting the earthly mirror away and using the looking glass of Jesus. When we do this, and allow ourselves to take a really good look, we see how lacking our reflection is. But it’s not to be condemned because the wonderful part about looking at ourselves through Jesus is that He fills in those parts that are lacking-we just have to confess that we are willing to allow the necessary changes to take place that make us more like Him.
We all have faults. But what we should want to do-what we need to do, is admit them to ourselves and submit to being changed into the image of Christ.
The people that I have had the privilege of encouraging this week were willing to do that. They were willing to expose themselves to me so that I could pray with them. Let me tell you what happened.
While they were confessing, I saw less of their sin and more of Christ. This was possible because they allowed themselves to reflect the person of Christ by setting aside their fear and their pride. So the more I saw Christ in their obedience, the more He showed me how to pray with them.
And something else.
I became convicted to get naked too.
In their obedience, they witnessed to me and blessed me with the hunger to change.
By admitting and realizing that some of my personal choices, ideas, and habits were holding me back, I looked into the reflection of Christ and submitted to Him so He could begin the process of change in me.
So He could fill me where I was empty. So I could be spiritually naked in front of Him and be blameless.
Even an encourager needs encouragement.
So if you are feeling bound up and stuck, maybe a conversation is in order with someone who’ll listen and pray with you.
Perhaps you’ll find yourself experiencing some bare naked faith.
Faithfully Fit 