Laura Bennet – Author

“Being transparent is not always easy, but it’s healing and can be a blessing to others.”           Jerry Rose

The November 2016 issue of Today’s Christian Living offered a great article by Jerry and Shirley Rose titled The Power of Authenticity. The couple talked about being real with others when we face difficult situations in our lives, and how it can open up lines of communication as well as create a place for others to feel safe in being vulnerable.

I experienced this when speaking at a women’s retreat a number of years ago.

Our team sensed we needed to be vulnerable in sharing the broken places of our pasts and how God was redeeming those places. Our stories offered hope to hurting women, most of whom had never opened up and shared any specific suffering of their lives before this event.

After our team bared our souls to these women, one by one they approached us to pour out their hearts to us and request prayer.

Lives were touched.

Aching hearts were healed.

New relationships began.

It was an experience I will never forget. The impact on my life equaled if not exceeded the change in those I spoke to and prayed for. I still carry those women collectively in my heart and pray for them.

Our progress forward can stall when we hide our failings, hurts and secrets.

In the above mentioned article, Jerry Rose shared his own story about having hearing loss that he refused to deal with until it began to cause problems in his work and relationships. When he finally made the decision to be honest about his situation and get help, he says it was “incredibly freeing.”

Being up front about his challenges meant he no longer had to work so hard at hiding.

Jerry states that once we embrace and name our problems, we can “move forward toward healing.”

He says,

“Whatever it is you are hiding, ask God to help you to be honest with yourself and have the courage to bring those secrets into the light of day. That is where true healing and ministry can happen.”

Taking our life forward means being honest with ourselves and others about our stuff.

Not only do we move ahead in our lives, but our transparency helps others grow too.

I call that a win, win!

Your turn. What area of your life do you need to open up about? Is there a time when you shared something that made someone else feel safe about telling their stuff too?

Post a comment or contact me @ laurabennet14@gmail.com if you’d like to share in private.