Hola readers!

I can normally tell when a person is hiding something or if they're not being themselves. I can just sense it. I don't know why, but I can. And I long to wrap my arms around those people and say, "but honey, you don't have to be this way. Can't we just be real?"

I've talked about honesty on this blog quite a bit, but recently I've been thinking...isn't honesty powerful?
What if everyone took the time to be honest...how many lives would be saved? How many divorces could be avoided? How many depressed, suicidal or self-harming people, would get help? How many drug addicts would go to a recovery center? How many pastors would finally be taken down from their image as "holier" and "closer to God then the rest of us"? How many people would ask for prayer? How many school shootings would end?
Would bullying end?
Would marriages be saved?
Would drug use go down?
Would churches appear more open?
Would more people see Christians as fallible, trip-up, mess-up humans? Would more people see Jesus' amazing Grace?

Would revival happen? 

I like honesty.  We all do.

We all crave to be utterly honest with another human being. We all crave realism, the beauty of raw confession. When was the last time you admitted to a friend you were hurting? When was the last time you put your name on the prayer list at church? When was the last time you shared your testimony with a broken person?

I like reading autobiographies and memoirs. There's something freeing about reading about a person's struggles, about their pain and triumphs and failings and how they rose from the ashes. I also like reading about Hollywood. It's just been a place God has used to speak into my life and a place that is close to my heart. I dream of going there, of finding a ministry to be a part of.
That hasn't happened yet, but I dream and I pray, and I've realized the deep need for honesty. Hollywood isn't normally honest and we've become like them. We hide behind our make-up, our fame or how many followers we obtain on social media. We hide behind stylish clothes and don't talk about the things that really and truly matter.
We fake it 'til we make it...only to find that we've never really 'made it.'
I grow sad reading about the people who for years hid their struggles, who went for years in a marriage with a partner they knew was faithless and abusive, but the abused didn't know how to really be honest with the outside world. I hate reading about girls getting seen for only their bodies and for directors encouraging nudity in movies so they'll get more ratings. I hate seeing that someone was broken so long but didn't know how to come to God and was afraid to ask.
Because Christians tend to shy away from being real that they're still struggling.

But honesty is powerful.

It strengthens you, empowers you, and gives you a need outlook in life. In the Bible we're told to confess, to tell others of Christ's love, to recount of His amazing Grace. We're told to be honest, to not be like the religious leaders who hid behind power and how good they looked.
I think revival is only going to happen in the world when we're honest.
Honesty is taking a real look at the world, at being open about the day-to-day struggles we face and about looking up and realizing we don't have it altogether. It's about honestly seeing Christ's immense suffering on the cross and honestly realizing that we have no control.

Honesty is having faith, is being yourself, is letting go of wanting to see the outcome of every situation, is turning your eyes off yourself. Honesty is saying you're sorry, is worship, is full of Grace. Honesty isn't trying to hide the tiredness in your eyes, but in admitting that Jesus saved you but you're still a work in progress. Honesty isn't afraid to be the awkward, on a whim human you are. Honesty isn't being afraid to ask for help when you're confused. Honesty isn't faking it.

The power of honesty is immense.

I think we forget how much.