One Halloween, when I was a child, my parents allowed me to get my first mask. It was full face and truly hideous.
I put it on and looked at myself in the mirror. I was terrified! I screamed. Temporarily I forgot it was me, so I didn’t realize I had the power to take it off.
As an adult, I went through some trials in my life that resulted in my slowly constructing a mask for myself. I felt no one would ever love me if they knew the real me.
At the beginning, my mask was like makeup. I could put it on and take it off. But as I wore it more often, it seemed to become a part of me.
One day, I looked at myself in my spiritual mirror. I was horrified to see what I had become. Like the child version of me with the Halloween mask, I did not realize I had any power to remove my mask.
I discovered another in that spiritual mirror. He also wore a mask. Paul and Jesus warned us about him.
“Satan masquerades as an angel of light.”
2 Corinthians 11:14
(Jesus speaking of satan). “There is no Truth in Him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
John 8:44
I believed satan’s lies. He told me I was unlovable. He told me my fall from grace was so far that God would never take me back.
He told me God hated me and if He ever found me, He would punish me severely before sending me to hell.
I pulled my mask down tighter and added more makeup on top. I tried to blend in with the Christian community, hoping no one (including God) would ever discover what I thought was the real me underneath.
Not only does satan lie, but he also accuses. I looked pretty good in public, but in private, I was overcome with guilt and shame.
I didn’t see any way God could forgive sins as deep as mine. The true meaning of Grace seemed a Gift I would never receive.
After we believe satan’s lies, he can coast for awhile, because we take up the chant of accusations against ourselves. Others may join in. The lies and accusations lead to one thought — “I can’t change.”
That is not true. We can change. But true change begins with knowing God does not change.
He had a Plan for us even before we were born.
“For I know The Plans I have for you,” declares The Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, Plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11
God watched over us from the beginning. David said,
“For you created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your Works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
Psalm 139: 13-14
“God saw everything He had made, and it was very good …”
Genesis 1:31
God loved us with a Love that has never changed, no matter what we have done. God has seen through every mask we have ever worn to the real persons He created us to be.
“I have loved you with an everlasting Love.”
Jeremiah 31:3
Nothing can ever separate us from God’s Love.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, nor the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from The Love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8: 38-39
When you become convinced of that Great Love, you will know you can choose to take off the mask.
You can look into that spiritual mirror again and see the person God created you to be. Look again and see what God sees!
“For we are God’s Masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.”
Ephesians 2:10
