The Image We Work So Hard to Protect
It is frightening to have the hidden parts of ourselves exposed. But even more frightening is losing the person we’ve worked so hard to become – the carefully stitched fig leaves we’ve constructed to make ourselves more acceptable to others.
Perhaps we hide behind our success, our spirituality, or our humor. Or maybe it’s always being the one with the answers, the competent leader, or simply the “good Christian.” These things are not necessarily bad. In fact, many of them are good gifts. But they become false identities when we use them as substitutes for being truly known.
The Deeper Sacrifice
Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler illustrates this well. He tells the man to sell his possessions, give to the poor, and follow Him. The man walks away grieving. The issue wasn’t ultimately his wealth. His possessions had become part of the identity he was unwilling to surrender. They allowed him to maintain the appearance of righteousness without entrusting himself fully to God.
In much the same way, we may have to surrender the identities we’ve carefully protected. Yes, this includes turning away from pornography, affairs, and other sexual sins. But the deeper sacrifice is relinquishing the fragile identity that makes these behaviors so appealing in the first place. If we remove the behavior without addressing our fractured sense of self, something else will likely take its place.
Freedom Beyond Performance
True freedom begins when we lay down our masks, our pretenses, and our endless need to prove ourselves or earn the approval of others. We stop asking our sexuality, our performance, or our image to tell us who we are.
Jesus shows us this way of life. Though He possessed every divine privilege, He did not cling to them. Secure in His identity as the beloved Son, He humbled Himself, washed His disciples’ feet, endured misunderstanding, embraced the shame of the cross, and gave His life publicly. Because His identity was secure, He was not attached to His image before others.
The same can be true for us.
When our standing no longer depends on our performance, we are finally free to lay down the image we’ve spent years protecting. Every sacrifice creates space. As we surrender the false self, we become free to receive what we could never earn: joy, rest, and delight.
