TRANSPARENCY

"Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at
you. Christ himself wrote it -- not with ink, but with God's living
Spirit; not chiseled in stone, nut carved into human lives -- and we
publish it . . ." 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 from The Message

You might remember the old saying, "My life is an open book!" Well that
is what transparency is all about, my friend. I've learned lots of
lessons from rubbing shoulders with the men of the Colony of Mercy --
and one of the major lessons is the value of transparency. Transparency
is the ability to share the REAL you with another brother who is willing
to hold you accountable. We all struggle in some area of our lives -- if
that were not true, why would the writer of Hebrews talk about
"besetting sins -- those sins that easily entangle us . . ." (Hebrews
12:1-2)

God brings into our lives those people who can read us and can figure us
out by just looking at us. They read our body language or detect from
our speech that something is troubling us. Unfortunately for most of us,
being transparent is difficult. Transparency can bring condemnation and
judgment. Sometimes people turn our transparency into cause for gossip
and slander. And so we keep stuff bottled up inside, and for some, it
causes us to go deeper and deeper into our struggles.

That's not the way I believe Christ designed the church. The church
should be a place where brothers can reach out when they are struggling
and share their hearts openly without fear of condemnation -- a place
where they will receive loving exhortation and admonition from the
Scriptures, not wagging tongues that will gossip and spread bad reports
to others.

Several years ago I started a journey to lose weight for health reasons.
It has been a very hard and difficult battle for me. Why? I love to eat!
I enjoy food. I don't always eat food for the right reasons. And by
God's grace I lost a significant amount of weight. I learned much about
why I eat. Most times it isn't because of hunger -- I eat when I am
stressed or when I am overwhelmed. I eat when I am hurting. Not good
reasons to eat and the result is extra pounds and tight fitting clothes.
I learned that in order to maintain my weight loss, I needed to exercise
and eat right constantly -- no room for fudging. I discovered that when
I was disciplined in this area, the other areas of my life were also
much more disciplined.

The past several months have been stressful and I have found myself
slipping backwards. The pounds have slowly crept up, the exercise has
diminished. Last week a dear brother pulled me on the carpet and called
me on it. I am so thankful that he had the courage to say, "What's the
deal?" And because of his love for me and feeling safe, I could share
openly my struggle without the fear of condemnation and judgment. I was
safe with him.

Today I am starting back on the journey. It is a tough road -- but
necessary. I can't do it alone! I covet your prayers and encouragement.
And if you catch me eating something that I am not supposed to (the list
is way too long . . .) I ask you to hold me accountable! The one thing
about this struggle is that is is easy to tell when I am in it . . .
"Your very lives are a letter than anyone can read by JUST LOOKING AT
YOU!" Let your life be transparent. It is worth it.