 Hey guys, welcome back to the Daily Disciple channel. My name is Isaac and this channel's mission is to help you become an authentic, inspired and passionate disciple of Jesus. And today I want to talk a little bit about that piece of authenticity. You know, I had a conversation the other day with a friend about authenticity and it really got me fired up to be honest. I don't know, I've just been seeing so much kind of fakeness in regard, even like in Christianity. This idea that we need to show that we have it all together, like we have, you know, our lives, everything is put together real neat and tidy. And I think we end up giving unbelievers the wrong sense of what it actually means to follow Christ. And I think a lot of believers see these, you know, really put together Christian strong believers, nothing, everything's great. And they get kind of discouraged. And I know I've been there where I've been discouraged and I've been like, why is this so hard? Why is everyone so put together and yet I feel like I'm just making a day today? And I think there's a piece of, that we need to be aware of, that authenticity is important, not only with ourselves, not only with other people, but with God. And I think we sometimes miss that. And we start treating God kind of like a vending machine, like, oh, you know what? God, can you do this for me? Can you do that for me? Can you do that for me? Instead of just being like, hey, God, this is who I am. I adore you for who you are. This is who I am, you know, and just relating to him in that way. That's how relationships are built is through authenticity. If you have no authenticity, there's really no relationship to be had because you can only relate when you are somewhat authentic. And I think that's a big problem that I know I've run into, is how do you cultivate good friendships when it feels like the people around you don't necessarily want to be authentic? They don't want to relate in that way. They prefer to have that face on. And I mean, I've been there. I've been that person that when somebody asked me how I'm doing and is actually interested, I've been kind of pushing them away and saying, you know, I don't really want to be authentic. But I think it's important that we can spur each other on into authenticity by being there for people, number one, being attentive to listen to what they have to say, being interested in their lives. Not just kind of a, hey, you know, a nonchalant, how are you doing, but actually being interested and, you know, really helping them be authentic and helping relate in that way and helping to build that relationship. I think that's important. And you know, we do that with God. We do that with others, you know, we need to be authentic with ourselves and understand where we're at and where we need to improve. I talked about, you know, it was a video a while back, stop making excuses and that's toxic of being, you know, authentic with ourselves and understanding and honest with ourselves and understanding where we're at, where we need to improve and having humility in that way. But embracing humility and vulnerability, I think is really important. We miss it a lot because it's more comfortable to keep to ourselves to not be authentic. But I think, you know, in that conversation I was talking about with my friend, I got to the point where I was just thinking, what would it look like? If we as believers could be authentic with each other, if we could relate well, how would our lives change? How would loneliness, you know, take a hit? How would, you know, miscommunication, how would, you know, I think we'd understand each other a lot better. I think we would, you know, be able to love each other a lot better. But it takes power that is not within ourselves to embrace that vulnerability, to love well, to seek to understand other people and we need to be asking God for that strength to do that. And I think that's something, I don't know, I'm going to be trying and moving towards, I'm continually trying to, you know, how can I be more authentic in my life but not authenticity for authenticity's sake, but authenticity to honor God more and how I relate with one another, how I relate with him, how I, you know, think about myself. And that's my goal and so I just encourage you guys along that same path this week. I hope you found this video, you know, interesting. If you have any more thoughts about authenticity, I'd love to hear them in the comments down below and I'm really encouraged to see this community growing and just engaging with God's Word and God's truth and let's just continue to follow him. Yeah, thanks guys. See you next time.