authenticity.

i've been spending a lot of time thinking about authenticity.

authenticity means for us to be ourselves--authentic--in our words & actions. recently, i realized that it's hard to balance the need to be authentic with the commandment to be christ-like. i could look around me & make a list of the many things i see people do which are "christ-like." i could start doing those same things in order to be seen as "christ-like." however, that's not how it works! that's not authentic! 

you must be authentic no matter where you are on the path to perfection. part of being authentic is knowing & accepting yourself including the fact that you are imperfect. as you strive to live more closely to the spirit, your actions will be influenced & you will become more christ-like, but in an authentic way. your "good" words & deeds will have more meaning & authenticity about them because you are doing & saying those things because you want to & it's how you would do it! it's you, as an authentically christ-like person, not you acting like a christ-like person (according to some arbitrary list).

becoming christ-like authentically reduces the pressure to live up to some standard we create in our minds. in addition, once that list isn't there for us to live up to, we can stop holding others to it as well! if every person is authentic & authentically christ-like in their own way, then we can't decide how everyone should be christ-like or whether or not someone is christ-like. otherwise, we are exacting over others & expecting them to be perfect... but really, we can let the lord handle that. 

the more i thought about this concept of authentically becoming christ-like, i realized something else... as we are close to the spirit we won't just learn how to be like christ, we will actually come to know ourselves--our spirits--the true authentic us that the lord knows! so the phrase "becoming christ-like" doesn't contradict us being authentically us. the spirit "consumes our flesh" & allows our spirits to shine through in a way that guides our desires & behaviors. 

sometimes we feel pressured to be perfect right now. but becoming perfect (christ-like) is a process. it will be better for us to make choices & changes line upon line, meaningfully & honestly, than to "become perfect" today, checking everything off a to-do list. first, it's impossible to do that in this life. & 2. it's the becoming that matters! & becoming takes time. we just need to be on the path & have a desire to be changed.