Be-Cast Episode 4: BE HONEST

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When we sat down at the beginning of brain storming about Be Still Be Free and thought about the starting point, all fingers pointed right at the concept of taking care of ourselves. Coming from the angle that we are all just tired of the search for peace, it naturally made sense that we start with Be Good To Yourself!

So for the next five weeks, we’re going to look into aspects of being that help us be good to ourselves: be honest, be content, be emotionally & mentally healthy, be physically & spiritually healthy, and be beautiful. Y’all, it’s going to be so much fun, and so rich!

So this week. Be Honest.

I don’t know about you, but so much of my day — heck so much of my life! — is centered around being good to other people that I have at times forgotten what being good to myself even looks like.  And when I am trying to be good to myself it is usually the search for more time in the day to get in that work out or cook a healthy meal.

What does being good to myself even look like?

Years ago after having my youngest child, Addi, I remember walking into the bathroom and just glancing in the mirror. I remember pausing and saying to myself, who are you?  There was a time that I knew very much so who I was and I liked me…not in a prideful, arrogant kind of way…but in a this is who I am content kind of way. But that day when I looked in the mirror, I realized I had changed and changed a lot.  Somewhere along the way of getting married, becoming a mom, working as nurse, living in a new city, moving into my first house (and the list goes on) I lost sight of the woman I was and focused on the roles I was playing. How did that happen?  Why did not realize it?

Part of the journey in learning how to be free is learning how to be honest. But this kind of honest is different than the kind that occurs when talking with other people. No, this kind of honest is about the conversation we have with ourselves.

The Hebrew meaning of the word honest is straightness, upright and the Greek meaning is sincere. How many of us can truly say (be honest!) that we are sincere with ourselves or straightforward?

On the flip side of being honest is the idea of lying. And the Greek meaning for lying is to cheat or deceive. I would dare say that most of us are better at deceiving ourselves than being sincere and upright. Indulge me for a second as I explain:

As I embarked on my journey of learning to be still, I realized that I had bought into many lies that came straight from the pit of hell. I struggled with my spiritual gifts, personality, physical appearance, and I began to doubt whether I was any good at any of the roles I played in life as well. I never felt good enough…nothing was ever good enough. But then I participated in a Bible study called The Lies Women Believe and The Truth That Sets Them Free. And I began to see the truth of the matter. I believed the lies of Satan about this creation of God. I needed to get into the Word and discover the truth and start having honest conversations with myself. God’s desire is for me to see me as He sees me.  This certainly does not mean perfect…it just means seeing me as made the way He wanted me made which is in His image. Sure there are always things I need to work on, but if I believed I was worth working on and drew the strength from God, I could be free from this bondage.

Our verse for this week is Proverbs 12:22, “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord but they that deal honestly are His delight.” 

It delights God that we speak the truth to ourselves about ourselves.  He hates it when we believe the lies.  Why?  Because He loves us and knows what bondage comes from listening to those lies. As we have been saying weekly, language forms our beliefs which forms our behaviors. In other words, lies in, lies out — truth in, truth out!

Oh friend, don’t allow Satan to keep you in bondage…be free!

Sara

PRACTICAL APPLICATION:

We have come up with some practical ways to start being more honest with yourself. Remember that the water is only green where you water it. Be willing to water yourself! You are so worth it! Part of being honest is getting to know yourself. And you are so worth getting to know!

1.  Take a spiritual gifts test. It’s so easy, and will only yield great results. You can take it online by clicking here. Listen friends, the only right answers here are the honest ones. When you get to the question that says you joyfully can live on very little — be honest in your answer. If that is not true, it’s not true. It doesn’t make it wrong, just honest. You want an honest assessment of your spiritual gifts, not a spit out of the gifts you think you should have.

2.  Take a personality test. Are you more introverted or extroverted? Do you feel more than think? Sense more than perceive? Take this online test and discover your personality.

3.  What are your love languages? Discovering love languages have saved marriages. Learn how you give and receive love, and how the ones you love give and receive love. And then discover ways you can learn to speak their language.

4.  Write down a list of your strengths and weaknesses. To start, your weaknesses list might be longer than your strengths list.  If so, that’s okay…we are looking to see what needs to be renewed! And remember, these are your “be” weaknesses and not your “do” weaknesses.

5.  What are your sin tendencies? This is more about what you are doing.  Sometimes you need to see what you are doing wrong to see how you need to renew how to be.

Some of you might be saying you have taken these tests before. We would encourage you to take them again…you never know how you might have changed or where God has led you from one stage to another.

We look forward to meeting up with you again on next Monday, but until then, commit to the truth that you need to be good to yourself. Water your grass friend!  Water your grass!

DOWNLOADS:

Print out this week’s printable! And we also made a graphic for the saying of Sara’s “the grass is always green where you water it” since so many have asked. (Grin.)

 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

1. Lies Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free. Incredible book and study Sara references in the podcast.

2. Now Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham. Sometimes we have no idea what our strengths are, or what they even mean. This book is gives insight into strengths in a way you’ve never considered before. It’s incredible!

3. The Strategy of Satan by David Jeremiah. This is a powerful download that is chapter one from the book — guaranteed you’ll want to buy the full book after you read this!

4. Dove Commercial. This is the commercial we referenced in the podcast illustrating how our versions of ourselves are so different than how others see us.