What do people think when they look at you?  We want others to view our “best self.” Think about it; no one posts the picture with you stuffing ice cream in your face and laying around in your SpongeBob pajamas. We post the “perfect” picture that captures our family, our smile, or our “best side.”  Yet, is that really you?  Why not let the world see the real you, SpongeBob pajamas and all?

We all know that answer. Someone will judge me. They would not accept me. I can’t have that face on my latest Instagram post. People will laugh, comment, or just realize that I’m not as together as I seem. There is simply no way that we can expose ourselves at that deep of a level. Derek Webb, an amazing singer/songwriter who understands God’s grace at a level I have not achieved, gives another perspective. “The best thing that could happen to us,” he explains, “is that all our faults and sins are broadcast on a huge TV screen behind us.”  How is this best?  If I can’t showcase my pajama choice, I certainly could never allow the world to see all my sins and flaws and expose everything.

As embarrassed as I would be, I understand Derek’s point perfectly. See, he goes on to explain that when everything is stripped bare, all that is left is us before God, our Creator. Then we realize how naked and ashamed we really are. But God does not laugh or post a hateful comment. He looks on us with love, deep abiding and miles abounding love. He looks on us and smiles. He made us. He knows us. Every day and every word, He knows them all. (Psalm 139)  He runs to us and stares. We are beautifully His.