Take Off That Mask

The Experiences of Life

We all go through experiences in life that leave a mark on us. But what affects us more than anything is how people treat us. Humans can be loving and compassionate. But they can also be vicious and uncaring. 

A lot of the events that hurt us and leave us in pain come from people who say and do nasty things. You may have spent the first years of your life with a mother who loved you. Hopefully, your father was also in the picture and showed some interest in you. 

Often, however, a child can face hurt even from those close by. But the worst experiences come in our interaction with other people. This can start in the home with siblings who compete with each other. But it usually gets worse when we meet other kids. This could be in a school or any public place.  

Other children can often be really vicious to one another. Any fault or weakness leads to rejection, scorn, or bullying. We cry out for someone to accept or recognize us. But instead, we are pushed aside and left out. You find that you do not have the qualities that others want to see in you. 

This experience can be bad enough in the early years of life. But when you reach puberty and adolescence, it becomes even worse. You are becoming more aware of yourself, and what others think of you is important. Attraction to the opposite sex just makes matters worse. 

At the end of the day, you are either accepted or rejected. Often, it is based on where you come from, how wealthy you are, or how intelligent you are. If you come from a poor home or family, you may be totally ignored. Your looks and your natural strengths often also come into it. 

It Is Not What Happens That Counts

Now, each of us faces different amounts of this. But in the end, sooner or later, we all have these experiences. Each time it happens, you have to make a choice. Either you ignore it and push on through, or you allow it to get to you. When it becomes really bad, you look for a way to overcome the pain. 

The final result in your life and the kind of person you become depends on the choices you make. It also depends on what you decide to do to stop this. And each person tends to take a different route. This is because we have different temperaments and different strengths. 

A person who is naturally weaker and less aggressive may draw into themselves. A stronger one may fight back in defense. But the most common effect is for a person to change themselves. So you try to find out what it is about you that others reject. And you try to change yourself to avoid this happening. 

You change your behavior or the way you look to make others accept you. You put up a front and try to become more acceptable. The goal is to rise up to a place where you are no longer inferior. Instead, you make yourself greater than others. In this way, you show that you no longer need anything from them. 

This now becomes a habit in your life, and you eventually do it without thinking. You no longer live your life from what is in your heart. But instead, you live using a picture or pattern that is in your mind. 

A Mask For Every Occasion

Over time, you come to realize that different people demand different things from you. What causes some to accept you may result in others rejecting you. You have to change your behavior based on the company you are in. And when the company changes, you also have to change. 

This is like putting a mask on to present a different face to different people. And each of us, over time, develops our own kind of masks. You learn what kind of mask to put on for different groups you are involved with. And you can get so good at it that nobody notices the mask. 

It works fine when everyone around you demands the same face. But then you may find yourself with several people who are all different. What one person expects from you is not the same as the others. And now you have a problem because you must decide who is more important. 

Living like this can be very stressful, and you are always under pressure to perform. You can’t relax and just be yourself in case someone rejects you. You cannot, as they say, “let down your hair” or have fun. Humor is something that escapes you because you are not able to laugh at yourself. 

The Way of The World

This experience that all of us go through, to some degree, is based on the systems of this world. The world is a place where you are either put on show or totally ignored. It consists of a lot of people who are all looking out for themselves. 

This is no surprise because the world is run by someone who wants to lift himself up. Lucifer had everything that could be desired as one of the chief archangels in heaven. But he wanted more, and he wanted to be above God. Since he is in charge of the world system, everyone in it has the same motivation. 

The whole world thrives on competition, with each one desiring to be greater. And the only way to survive is to pull others down and lift yourself up. This is what drives each one, and there is little place for caring about others. We grow up in this and get caught in it. 

The Lord Changes Everything

You may have grown up with this way of doing things. But then you met the Lord and became a believer. And now the Holy Spirit inside of you brings a new motivation. You are taught to walk in humility and care for one another. And it goes against everything you may have lived before. 

In the world and in business, the way to succeed is to destroy the opposition. Make yourself into something that is above others. So that everyone will notice you and allow you to be in control. Even the animal kingdom lives by a principle known as “survival of the fittest.”

Now, as believers, we are told to do things very differently. 

Philippians 2:3  [Let] nothing [be done] through strife or empty boasting; but in lowliness of mind let each consider others better than themselves. [GBMV]

When Jesus tried to present this way of living, He was totally rejected. They wanted Him to rise up as their King and get rid of their enemies. They expected Jesus to lift them up and make them famous. This is the image they were given by the spiritual leaders they had. 

It took Jesus three years to get some of this out of His disciples. They kept competing with each other, wanting to be the greatest. He had to correct them and show them that it did not work this way. To Him, the elevator to the top floor of the building is located in the basement. 

The Result of True Humility

The Lord does not want you to be pushed down and ignored. He wants to lift you up to the highest level. He does not want you poor and struggling. He wants you to be wealthy and affluent. He does not want you lonely and ignored. He wants you to be popular and famous. 

But His way of getting you there is very different from the way of the world. Today, Jesus is lifted up to the highest level of all. He is seated on the throne of heaven. And He wants you also to be lifted up above all that the world may offer. 

But for many, the price is too great. They are not prepared to let go of the recognition and acceptance of the world. They want to be seen as acceptable and successful. So, they develop the best possible masks to fool everyone. And each goes around lifting the other up. Their whole life is a performance for the sake of being recognized. 

Identify Your Masks

Some of you who are reading this now are probably thinking, 

“Yes, I know someone like that. They have so many masks.”

In fact, many even think that they are called to minister to others to help them get rid of their masks. But they have failed to see the mask they are wearing. Jesus spoke about people like this in the following passage. 

Matthew 7:3  And why do you look at the splinter that is in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the beam that is in your own eye?
4  Or how can you say to your brother, Let me pull the splinter out of your eye; and, look, a beam [is] in your own eye? [GBMV]

There is a price to pay when you take off your masks. You no longer can hide behind them, and people will see the real you. It is time to let down your mask of strength, ability, and superior intellect. You must choose to be vulnerable and weak. 

But there is good news also as a believer. You may feel like you are standing naked before everyone. But you are clothed in something far more glorious. You are clothed in the image of Jesus, and He is far from weak. 

So why not make a choice today and step out in faith? Dare to remove those false masks you have been wearing. Dare to step out in faith though vulnerable in the natural. And watch Him take you to a new place of freedom in Him. 

When you can walk out into this world, and also amongst believers. And you can be real and who you are instead of something else. You will experience a freedom you have never known. And the Lord will lift you up and put you on a pinnacle. You will be like a city on a hill that cannot be hidden. 

This is your heritage, Child of God. Do not let the enemy steal it from you for even one more day.