I’ve been inspired as-of-late to be true to the real me. Different blogs and Bible studies have all hinged on the same idea: we tend to wear masks as human beings. I know this is true of me. I let people at church see one side of me, people at military functions see another, and my husband still another. Why do I do this? I think a part of me is afraid that the world won’t like the real me. And so I hide behind insecurities and play it off as shyness.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not bashing shyness. I’ve lived with a good bought of it my entire life. Just the same, sometimes I use my shyness as a safety net. I use my shyness to ignore the nudging of the Holy Spirit when he encourages me to reach out to that new military spouse I just meant at the Bible study this morning. I use my shyness as an excuse to sit in the background and let the talk move around the room, with me as a spectator.

Sometimes my shyness becomes my greatest vice. Sometimes I feel stuck, stuck by fear, and unable to get out of my comfort zone. As a homebody I’m always more than ready to make a run toward the door, instead of investing in relationships.

2 Timothy 1:7 says that “God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”

God gives me the power to face uncertain circumstances. He’s with me in those moments when I’m shy, alone, and afraid to step out and make a new friend. He has given me a wonderful spirit of love that, if I let it, will outshine any shyness. If I let God move, love will outshine any sense of fear, and I’ll be able to reach out and love someone new. Those moments are wonderful ones, because I truly know that it’s God working through me. On my own I never would have done such a thing. Those moments stretch me and grow me each and every day. Because they’re the moments when I let go of my walls and let the true me appear.

Are you ever afraid to show the “true you”? Why?