Living Fully Known

Devotional

To live in secrecy before God, man, and yourself is to live in darkness. We are made to be fully known. We are made to be open and vulnerable. It’s only in the place of living fully known that we can truly receive the depths of God’s love for us. It’s only in being fully known that we discover who we really are and the immensity of our need for God.

Our culture values perception above reality. We work tirelessly to create an image of perfection in the minds of others that requires a constant covering-up of who we truly are. We work to build up a facade, a false outer shell, in attempts to keep in darkness that which we fear will cause rejection. But the greater our facade the less we are truly loved. When someone loves an image we’ve created that we know isn’t truly us, we can’t receive that love. When someone compliments the image of perfection we’ve worked to create, we are all the time thinking, “If you only knew who I really was, you wouldn’t be saying those things.” To be fully loved is to be fully known.

The sobering truth of Scripture is that God already knows the secrets of our heart and will one day bring them out into the light whether we desire it or not. Hebrews 4:13 says, “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Luke 8:17 says, “For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” God knows the importance of everything being brought to the light. His chief desire is full relationship with us, and he knows full relationship only occurs without secrets.

While God knows the secrets of our heart already, we will not receive the fullness of his love here on earth until we willingly open them up to him. God patiently waits for us to make ourselves fully known to him, all the while beckoning us with his loving-kindness. He declares his good nature to us through Scripture, circumstances, and his Spirit, knocking on the door of our hearts that we might let him in to love us, heal us, and set us free.

Take time today to open your life to God, and with his help, tear down whatever facade you’ve built up. Engage in the process of living fully known by offering up the parts of your heart you’ve never wanted to bring to the light. Tell him of your secrets. Make some space to reflect on your life. What do you work tirelessly to keep in the dark? What thoughts, motives, or wounds do you constantly try and hide? Trust that your God is a good Father. He already knows the secrets of your life. He will not reject you. He is not disgusted with or ashamed of you. He simply wants to fully love you. May you experience the love of your heavenly Father to greater measures today as you seek to live fully known.