Relationships

Since this is my public think tank, I decided I would share something that's been on my heart the last few days - relationships. The older I get the more I am learning to appreciate true friendships. I am about to complete a bible study I'm creating for The General Youth Division and today, I'll spend about 4 hours with a friend of mine to fine tune the bible study and he'll give me his opinion. He doesn't have to, he just will. Last night I had a great phone conversation with one of my best friends, he's halfway across the country, yet he called to chat. He didn't have to, he just did.

That free will is what makes relationships so amazing; true friends act from the heart, not from obligation. Life would be just horrible without the opportunity to share it with other human beings.

Authenticity

I can't get away from the ever growing hunger for authenticity in our world. People are hungry for realness; they crave someone who is comfortable with being themselves. Rare is the person who is comfortable being themselves anymore. In The Message (Matthew 23) Eugene Peterson says some live their lives as "perpetual fashion shows". I don't want to walk the runway of life in full-fake-apparel; I want to walk "naked" before God each day, robed in authenticity. It's cliché, but I still want to live my life for an audience of One. How He measures up my garment of authenticity is the only measurement that truly matters.