Who you truly are is the pathway to peace

​Most of my life, I think I've been well-liked. And a lot of that time, I've spent wondering to some degree if the people who like me would actually like the real me.

That's a hard thing to say, but I'm saying it because I've learned over the last few years that a lot of people live with that same wondering. And for many that wondering comes with a fear; a fear of being one's true self. For many that wondering comes with a shame; the real me isn't nearly as likable as the pretend me.

Being liked isn't difficult. It's actually pretty easy to figure out what the people around you like about people. Once you figure that out, you can begin managing an image that looks likable to those you want to be liked by. But if the image you're managing looks like someone everyone else likes - but someone you DON'T like - that becomes exhausting.

Andy Stanley says the minute you start managing an image you stop working on you. Because image management is based on who you want people to see and not who you long to be. Who you were made to be.

It's a brave answer to seek. It's one many of us are working to exhaustion to avoid. Would you like me if you knew me? Why even bother asking that - we think - when it's safer - and easier - to simply become someone I know you'll like.

But trust me, the question never goes away. It never will. It's haunting, to a degree.

Would you like me if you knew me?

It's a most beautiful thing - to get that answer. It's life changing and life giving; I hope we will all one day have that answer for our very own. To know - and to feel - that being truly liked for who we truly are by even one, is far more meaningful than being liked by a crowd who never knew you at all.

There are so many reasons we hide the real us from the world - and from ourselves. Most of them have to do with a fear of being dis-liked.

Our deepest desires, after all, are rooted in being seen and liked. We long to be liked by others; we really long to like ourselves. Many days those two go hand in hand.

So I understand the hiding. But I love these words from Steffany Gretzinger:

Come out of hiding
You're safe here with Me
There's no need to cover
What I already see

You've got your reasons
But I hold your peace
You've been on lockdown
And I hold the key

I do think a lot of the world walks around feeling on lockdown. Longing for that peace.

A peace starts with finding that safe place. A safe place that starts with a desire to be true and not a desire to be liked. And it's there that you'll discover you've been far more likable all along than you have ever really been liked.

I hope you'll start this week believing it - who you are is way more likable than you might believe.

I hope you'll start this week knowing - who you are is the pathway to peace.