Quotes about Authenticity

Too often we get caught up in our own words concerning prayer. Sometimes we try to pray so long, loud, and fancy that we lose sight of the fact that prayer is our conversation with God. The length or loudness or eloquence of our prayer is not the issue; it is the sincerity of our heart and the confidence we have that God hears and will answer us that is important.

Years ago I heard a well-known Bible teacher say, "If you want to find a spiritual person, don't look in the church." He said that because in church you can't tell who is real and who is putting

We're all different. You can't be somebody else, so you might as well get good at being who you are.

Knowing who we are in Christ sets us free from the need to impress others. As long as we know who we are, we don't have to be overly concerned about what others think of us. Once we know who we are and accept ourselves, we no longer have anything to prove. When we have nothing to prove we can relax and be at ease in every situation.

Many people will never succeed at being themselves because they cannot even get into agreement with God.

It's very easy to find fault with ourselves and think we need to be like someone else. Be who you are and don't try to be a copy!

Please remember that you don't have to be like someone else to be acceptable. The world's standards are not God's. The world may say you need to be like this person or that person, but God's will is that you be yourself. I

Confidence allows us to face life with boldness, openness, and honesty. It enables us to live without worry and to feel safe. It enables us to live authentically.

Notice there's nothing provided to protect our backside! That's because God never intended us to run from our enemies. His plan was and still is that, with Him at our side, we confront any issue in our life that is a problem. People are so skilled at not facing real issues, and they're even better at trying to cover them up by living make-believe lives and inventing false personalities. It is time to take a stand and confront fear!

Occasionally we see "shooting stars" in ministry—people who come out of seemingly nowhere and practically overnight are known worldwide, usually because they happened to get in with a certain group of people who had an ability to open doors for them. Rarely do their ministries last. They often get into trouble financially or morally because character is built during the hard times of waiting, but they didn't go through that character-building time.

Our lives improve only when we take chances -- and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.

It is too embarrassing to name and own one's deep failings; as long as they are unvoiced, we may be allowed to pretend it is not so.