America. I love traveling and I would love to see the whole world but I consider America my home. I love learning about different cultures and got a chance to do that this past week at a school we spoke at. About one third of the school is made up of international students. Students from countries like; Norway, China, Taiwan, Bermuda, Korea, Ethiopia, and Germany to just name a few. I had some really awesome conversations with students from Norway and I learned some interesting facts about Norway.
Here is what I learned:
1. Chocolate and candy is way better in Norway
2. They miss the mountains
3. The food in America is not very fresh
4. The music, culture and style is very similar
5. The water is better in Norway
One of the most interesting things I learned was about the people. One student told me that Americans are more outgoing but it takes a lot to actually get to know that person while Norwegians are more quiet and closed off but once you get to know someone they are very open. I started to think about what she said and I can't help but agree in some aspects. Our culture seems to encourage a certain type of outgoiningness and to be social but not let anyone get to close. So we hide ourselves.
God created us for relationships and a want to connect to others but through experiences we close up and put up a facade or a mask. I know I have struggled with opening up and being myself because of past experiences when I have opened up and gotten hurt. So that is why we hide behind masks. We talk about identity in our presentations. Sometimes we find our identity in success, in sports, in school or in relationships. We hide behind those things for fear of letting people see us. We are made in the image of God (imago dei) and we should be finding our identity in him. But we fail at that sometimes and we wrap our lives around certain things. I love this quote by Tim Keller:
"Sin isn’t only doing bad things, it is more fundamentally making good things into ultimate things. Sin is building your life and meaning on anything, even a very good thing, more than on God. Whatever we build our life on will drive us and enslave us. Sin is primarily idolatry."
When we put things before God they become idols in our lives. Even building our lives around something good can be turned into an idol. It seems we turn the things we love into idols in our lives. So what do you love? What drives you? What do you spend so much time doing or working towards that hides who you are to the people around you? Ultimately, what do you hide behind?
In his book, Love Does, Bob Goff asks a really good question, "God asks if we will give up that thing we're so proud of, that thing we believe causes us to matter in the eyes of the world, and give it up to follow Him. He's asking us, 'Will you take what defines you, leave it behind, and let me define who you are instead?'"
I think many times I hide because I am scared of what others may think of me, yet God, who knows everything about me, still accepts me. So are you willing to give up what you think defines who you are and let God define you?
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