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Chapter 7: Tell the Truth – Pages 43-49

Have you ever choked on your own words?  They sit there perched on your tongue ready and waiting for an escape, but somehow when you open your mouth they instantly become paralyzed.

What is it about telling the truth that freezes us in our tracks, sends us into a frenzy of anxious energy and scrambling for the right words or tone to deliver our message?

“Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.”  – Brene Brown

Just shy of a month ago I sat on my friend’s couch and told her that though I spent a good portion of my youth telling fabricated stories, in order to fit in, but now as an adult I desperately crave vulnerability and people who aren’t afraid to be real.

Telling the truth is hard.  It is a wonder that anyone speaks at all, what with all of the bashing that people receive for the simplest and silliest things on social media or heaven forbid, in real life.

How does anyone have the bravery to stand up and tell it as it really is?  How do they decide that it is okay to go against the grain?

“Simply speaking truth out loud is healing in and of itself.  When people courageously voice a true, hard thing, they’ve already stolen some of its dark power before we offer one word to fix it.”
{For the Love}

When I began blogging, I wrote for myself.  It was therapeutic and helped me to share some of what was going on in my life as I worked to overcome near-crippling anxiety.  But when I decided to take the plunge and go public with this space, the first thing I did was hide what I was really feeling.  I was scared to let others know that my exterior didn’t match my interior.

I followed trends in blogging so I didn’t stand out in any way.  Every post ended on a happy note. And I realized that all of that anxiety I had overcome was resurfacing. I was tired. I didn’t want to write anymore; not if it required me holding it all in.  I wanted the truth to spill out of the broken places of my heart.  I wanted freedom.

We will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. – Ephesians 4:14-15

Vulnerability is frightening and humbling, but in telling the truth of what trials you’ve experienced, you give victory to Jesus by helping to encourage, inspire or empower others.  Because when you tell the truth you do four things:

1. You take away the power of the enemy by removing yourself from isolation.
2. You give permission for others to speak life into you and intercede on your behalf.
3. You break down barriers and allow others to know that they are safe to be honest as well when they speak with you, and most importantly…
4. You are sharing HIS story of how He has brought you through and proven that you are an overcomer and recipient of His grace!

Nothing good grows in the dark.  When we keep the truth hidden, we allow lies to creep in and we have no defense to stop their attack.  We can easily set into motion things that aren’t really happening just because we allow worry and defeat to take control.

“But when you drag that truth kicking and screaming into the glorious light, you can see it for what it is.  It wasn’t as menacing as it pretended.  It isn’t as uncommon as it claimed.” {For the Love}

I have come a long way from the child who lied her way through life; trying everything to fit in.  Instead I’ve found that telling the truth has actually brought me further into community.  When you take a chance and let down your guard, it’s amazing how many “me too’s” you’ll hear!

Do you struggle with being open and honest about the real you and the circumstances of your life?  How can we be praying for you to overcome the isolation of holding back? 

[divider] [row-start] [three-fourths]Bree Blum is a just your average single thirty-something book loving, oil using, cardigan wearing blogger who loves Jesus.

You can connect with her on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.[/three-fourths] [one-fourth][/one-fourth] [row-end]