Public Vs. Private

When any of us are asked to give someone our resume´or bio in any professional setting, we work hard to make ourselves sound as good as possible. That’s the point—sell your positives. Play down your negatives.

However, when we sit in the quiet and reflect on our lives, the vast majority of us focuses on the negatives and ignores the positives. We regret, second-guess, and beat ourselves up over the wrong things done and said, or the right things missed and ignored.

In short, there is generally a wide gap between the public image we present and sell and the private image we live with and know all too well.

The reality is, for most of us, the truth is somewhere in the middle. We aren’t the super-heroes that our bios and resumes make us sound like, but we also aren’t the losers we can paint ourselves to be in our moments of question and regret.

The disciples are not only great examples to us, but should be incredible inspirations as well. Take Peter, for example. Look at just these few verses . . .

So I tell you, you are Peter. On this rock I will build my church, and the power of death will not be able to defeat it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven . . . —Matthew 16:18-19a NCV

Just days later and 3 verses away . . .

Then Jesus said to Peter, “Go away from me, Satan! You are not helping me! You don’t care about the things of God, but only about the things people think are important.” —Matthew 16:23 NCV

Today’s simple point is while we can’t believe our own press, we must also learn to bypass the emotional beat-down we give ourselves. We must learn to view ourselves as Jesus does.

As men of flesh with no righteousness of our own, we’re miraculously saved by grace and mercy, free to live under the submission of the power of the Holy Spirit. . . . Now there’s a bio!

He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. —John 3:30 NLT