Should I Be Telling You This?

I like to fill my Instagram account with pretty pictures of my children and me hugging and smiling, holding iced lattes, enjoying a harmonious family moment in which my forehead wrinkles have been photo edited and some witty list of hashtags beckons you to share in the joy of my awesome life.

But let’s talk about what you don’t see on Instagram.

Right now I am typing these words at a cluttered desk, overlooking stacks of microscope slides and English textbooks (because living the glamorous author life means sharing an office with a homeschool sophomore), and my right foot is sticking to the hardwood floor because my sock has a hole in it. My husband and I are currently in an argument over whose turn it is to empty the dishwasher, my fridge is filled with leftovers probably growing fuzz by now, and I’m half expecting a call any minute from my college kid telling me she needs another fifty dollars loaded to her gas card.

That, folks, is real life.

And you may not find it on Instagram.

Actually, I should post that kind of stuff to Instagram.

Because you no doubt will relate to my honesty. And some desperate part of you will probably value it far more than my glossy pictures—lovely as they are.

Sometimes the best way to bless another person is to let them see the real you.

Give them the gift of realizing somebody else’s life is just as messy as theirs, and they are not alone. Not crazy. Not hopeless. Validate their concerns, let them know you’ve been there.

Transparency prohibits walls from going up between you and me.

It allows blessings to cross between us, unhindered. So embrace the raw truth, don’t hide it. You might be surprised how well you can love another person simply by opening up.

I have a saying that guides my writing career: Honesty is a ministry.

It sheds the facade and allows people to grasp solidarity, #notalone.

It invites others to get real about their own messy interiors so that together we can say, me too, sister, me too—now how are we going to point to Jesus?

Because your “real” and my “real” have a purpose. Don’t conceal it as though authentic life is a source of shame. Truth is we’re supposed to pass it along.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

So let’s shut off the filters, okay? Dare to be real with a friend today… someone trustworthy who won’t judge you for your crap.

Then see what God does with one tiny sliver of honesty.

Because honesty is a ministry. And somebody needs yours.