The End Of Me By Kyle IdlemanSample

Authentic to Be Accepted

We as humans struggle with authenticity because we fear rejection. We want the world to see us at our very best because then people are more likely to accept and possibly even admire us.

Maybe we don’t need to try so hard or hide any of our blemishes. Maybe people will like us just the way we are. It’s even possible they’ll be more drawn to us if they know some of our failings and struggles. They could say, “I’m like that too. I have the same issues. I’m glad to know there are two of us.”

But there’s a risk we won’t take. Fear is the enemy of transparency. We don’t like our flaws, and we don’t expect anybody else to. So we work hard at putting up the most impressive front we can.

“Pure in Heart”… That’s something to think about, isn’t it? It means you’re living the blessed life when you stop worrying about the signs and the extravagant advertising and all the effort expended in trying to convince people you’re something different than you are. When the inside and outside match up, you’re pure in heart and you’re where he wants you to be.

Getting to the end of me means I’m not so worried about performing for others anymore. Getting to the end of me means I’m no longer interested in raking it, because I understand that God is looking for the real me.

When we bow to give thanks in a restaurant, how unmixed and sincere are our hearts? Are we thinking entirely about God and his provision of the meal, or is some part of us thinking about how we appear to others?

When we raise our hand to volunteer for a project at church, how much of the heart is allocated to pleasing God, and how much is concerned with who is watching and how impressed they may be?

Do we wonder who’s watching as the offering plate goes by?

When we stand to pray publicly, are the words geared to God’s ear or to those listening?

Coming to the end of me means I am through with seeking the applause or attention of man, and the emptiness it produces. Instead, I seek only to please God—I receive my reward from him instead of from people. When we close the public theater, drop the curtains, shut off the lights, and play to an audience of one, not caring about the reviews of the critics or anyone else, that’s when we come to the end of ourselves and experience God’s blessing.