Jesus' Shared Wisdom

5.5: Break the Mask

Hey Everyone! My apologies for putting this lesson all the way back here. If you have read up to lesson 20, then you can count this lesson as 21. I decided that this would be a good lesson for people who just picked up this book to read early on. If you are a new reader of this book, thank you for getting this far! I hope you learn a lot from this new lesson!

Don't be intimidated by the lengths of the lessons or the number of lessons there are. Read them slowly, there is no rush or pressure to read them quickly. I want you to learn the most you can from each lesson without skipping through them or feeling the need to finish this book. Have a great day, my friends!

-Arkada

To put on a mask means to hide our true identities. We are hiding our true selves from those around us. How many times have you created a mask to hide from others? Me? I've created masks many times to prevent other people from seeing what I wanted to keep hidden. With a mask, I could prevent people from worrying about any pain I felt or from thinking badly of me.

Have you ever created a mask to hide yourself from Jesus? I've done that too. Sometimes my sins make me fearful of Jesus, so I pretend that they don't exist. I ignore them and shift my focus to pleasing Jesus. Sometimes I create a mask to trick Jesus into thinking I'm a good follower, when I'm truly disobeying Him.

So why do we create masks? Usually, we create masks out of a fear of being judged. We fear the fact that we will have to face our problems and work hard to overcome them. We also know by sinning, we must receive punishment for them, since without administering punishment for our sins Jesus would not be fair and holy. No one likes to admit their problems or to face the consequences of their actions. Because of these fears, we create masks to protect ourselves.

However, the truth is that Jesus sees through the masks we create. When we read Hebrews 4:13 which states, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."
we know that we cannot hide ourselves from Jesus or lie to Him. He sees everything we do and knows when we will do it. Jesus won't let us avoid the righteous punishment we deserve. As a result, creating masks to protect ourselves ends up becoming a futile action.

I understand that removing a mask can be difficult. It's natural to be fearful of judgement and of taking accountability for your actions. A healthy relationship with Jesus requires us to be honest with Jesus. We must be willing to remove our masks to confess our sins to Jesus. However, we don't need to have a spirit of fear when we face the consequences of our actions. In 2 Timothy 1:7 we read, "For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline."

Through this verse, we can understand the type of spirit Jesus wants us to have. When we confess our sins to Jesus, we should be willing to grow and learn from them. Jesus gives us the power to overcome our sins and obtain new knowledge from them. In fact, many of these lessons are created when Jesus teaches me through my mistakes and failures. With Jesus, we have the capability to change ourselves in a positive way, more so than if we kept to ourselves and tried to ignore our sins.

This new growth doesn't allow for us to hide ourselves with a mask. By discarding your mask, you can experience the true love and patience Jesus has for you. Don't let this mask dampen your relationship with Jesus. Instead, allow a spirit of positive growth and love to develop inside of you. Be willing to talk with Jesus about your sins and problems, since He is able to guide you in the right direction.

With this new knowledge, you can destroy the masks of others that prevent them from experiencing the true love of Jesus. Please share what you learned from this lesson with other people. By doing so, you create the opportunity for them to develop a powerful relationship with Jesus. Thank you for reading this lesson and please ask questions if you have any concerns or confusions. I'm open to suggestions for a topic to cover in a lesson, so please comment what you would like to see. Know that Jesus is always with you!