Hide & Seek or The Pretender? Which One?

Photo Credit: Rand Eastwood

Remember the game hide & seek? I sure do! Loved it! A bunch of us kids would gather around and determine who was going to be “it.” The person who was it had to count while everybody else hid. Once the person finished counting and ran around and found someone, that person would now become it. Get the concept? Or what about playing “pretend.” I used to love playing that game with my sister. We’d gather up all of our dolls, well the still functioning, put together ones, and we’d pretend. We would pretend we were princesses, moms, teachers, whatever we wanted to be. Through those dolls, we acted out or little imaginations.

So fast forward to today. Ladies, what’s going on? We’re all grown up now. Why are we still playing hide & seek, but instead of seeking out anybody, we’re just plain ol’ hiding. Hiding behind the make-up. Hiding behind money, food, sex, relationship, and even church. We have failed at the concept of hide & seek and mastered the art of “fakery.” And what about the pretending? We’ve gone from our dolls acting out our dreams and imaginations to us living in a made up world, or somebody else’s altogether. We pretend we got our stuff together. We pretend that we are well-put together, better than the next one, and so on and so on. We do this by trying to always stay one step ahead of the game by always putting our best foot forward. In our blurred and misconstrued views of what it means to live authentically, we’ve lost touch with who we really are…by living as hypocrites.

The origin of the word hypocrite comes from the Greek word “hypokrites.” It meant actor or stage player. This person played the roles of multiple characters.  As time went on, hypocrite became associated with anyone who said one thing and did/lived another. But here’s what happens when we become the hypocrite. Well for one, we can’t be trusted and neither can our words and actions. And we hurt ourselves. We do more of a disservice to ourselves when we choose to hide behind pain, sin, church, relationships, unhealthy habits/addictions, etc.

Sisters, come close as I tell you and me this. This life was crafted out for one only…YOU and ME. Though it’s nothing wrong with taking tips and advice from others, it becomes a problem when we start to live out and act out another person’s life. In Holley Gerth’s book, “You’re Already Amazing” she says “God creates each of us to be uniquely who we are---just like each part of the body is unique. We don’t need more than one of a given body part. Nor would we want more than one.” She also says, “You’re not only amazing. You’re enough. You’re beautiful. You’re wanted. You’re chosen. You’re called. You’ve got what it takes…not just to survive but to change the world.” 

Did you catch that girlfriend? We are not prototypes. We weren’t made to be copied. We are unique. We are one of a kind. We are God’s masterpiece, created by His very own hands to go out into the world and change it. So let’s do that. Put aside the childish games and the hypocrite’s role and let’s live beautifully like the women we were created to be! Blessings!

{This graphic I made just for YOU because you're #BeYOUtiful}

1 Corinthians 13:11 (NLT) When I was a child, I spoke and though and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.

Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.