Authenticity: Own It! And Dare to be Yourself

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. The portrait that I have chosen for this article is rather daring, and one could easily question the authenticity of the woman who chooses to wear such bold makeup. Does she seek to hide? To provoke? Or does she simply choose to display the colours that she loves?

I decided to select this photograph because I wanted to address the subject of risk, of boldness, of being different, and of authenticity. What better way to set the tone for this article than some flashy hot pink lipstick?

Yahweh’s Authenticity: Unique and Different

One of the biblical verses that best describes the nature of God is this one:

You must be holy because I, the Lord, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own.

Leviticus 20:26 NLT

In popular speech, when the term “saint” is used, it is often juxtaposed with a sense of morality and purity.

In Hebrew, “Quadesh” (in English, “saint”) means apart, separate, consecrated, unique, different, sacred (I suggest you watch the video entitled Holiness from the Bible Project which does a good job of explaining God’s holiness).

What I want to draw your attention to is the profoundly unique and different dimensions of God. In essence, God tells us that He is a God that is unique and different from anything else that exists in the entire universe: He is incomparable. In this Bible verse, God tells us that He has chosen and consecrated us so that we too may fully belong to Him AND be just as fully unique and different.

Obviously, in the context in which the verse was written, God was referring to the people of Israel who had to behave differently from the people around them, for God had chosen them and set them apart to bring truth and light into this world.

Today, God still calls us to stand out from the rest of the world in the ways in which we act and think. It is not enough to say that we believe in Jesus to be a disciple. We must also act as disciples.

Authenticity in Creation: Each Creature is Unique

I’d like to dive deeper in this reflection. God created each of us to be unique and separate beings. Even identical twins are different from one another. Every plant, every creature, is unique. This is how God manifests His glory: by creating unique and distinct individuals. Before the fall of Adam and Eve, God had established an order, systems, and rules that governed the way the world was to function, create, and reproduce. The basis for the difference between and among each species had already been established before their conception.

Today, when we reject others, strangers, those who are not like us, those who share different ideals from ours or who act differently than we do—it is God’s holiness that we are rejecting. For He has created us all with our specificities and with our differences. One makes up for what the other is missing. The other offsets the weakness of another. Each individual is to love their neighbour as themselves:

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.

John 13:34-35 NLT

Authenticity in Self-Love

How can we love others if we don’t feel good in our own skin?

Some time ago, I met a totally unique and special young adult: always with a smile on his lips, ready to crack a joke at any moment, caring, attentive, and very talkative. When he enters a room, it is impossible for him to go unnoticed. He is loud and a little bit clumsy… But he is very sweet. He has so much love to share, and he also desires to be loved. He shines so brightly that it is blinding.

Unfortunately, people tend to only see the glare of his personality rather than the beauty of his being. He is profoundly different from any young man I’ve ever met before. His difference bothers young people his age, and it makes him suffer. He tells himself that if only he were like everyone else, maybe he would be more accepted. But if he was like everyone else, how would he shine and stand out from others?

On the other hand, I know a very bright young girl who bases all of her likes and choices on current trends. I truly love this girl! She is so candid and real, but she doesn’t even realize it. She wants us to treat her like an adult, but when you look into her eyes, all you can see is her innocence and her childlike heart. She does everything to conform to a trendy mould, when in fact, she is much more complex and interesting than that mould.

In the end, to be authentic is to love ourselves and to trust in people’s appreciation of who we are. It is to love oursleves, to love others, to completely “own it”! and to shine with the light of Christ.

The Challenge of Authenticity and Holiness

Authenticity can be a real challenge: for children, teenagers, and adults alike. In our eagerness to please, we often make too many concessions in order to conform to the standards of a group, an organization, or a society. These compromises are often painful and sometimes even traumatic because they force us to eliminate the part of ourselves that sets us apart from others. In addition, these concessions can cause us to question our own values and beliefs, which in turn create internal conflicts or cognitive dissonance.

It is by being authentic that we are most likely to shine. Indeed, Jesus teaches us in these terms:

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:16 NIV

This light that Jesus refers to emanates from what distinguishes us as individuals and also from the Holy Spirit who reveals to us our identity in Christ. Therefore, it is the Holy Spirit who shows us who we truly are, and it is also the Holy Spirit who allows us to be holy, among other things, by showing authenticity.

In a world where everyone wants to stand out, yet where ultimately everyone follows the same selfish, unrealistic, stifling and harmful mentalities, behaviours and values; we must dare to be authentic. At all costs, we must discover who we are in Christ, embrace our personality with confidence, and just be ourselves.