MASKS - How my obsession with "Appearance" hurts me

Money is a huge mask and looking at yesterday's response from a young lady who shared the decision she made re: the government stimulus check touched me. Laura and I have invested more than $150,000 into God's work in the last 33 years and many more $$$ into Christian education. We've given a lot of time. We've given up much of our retirement. Yes, for us it has been so worth it! Giving is a joy! Giving for the right reasons - because we're been given life, love, eternal friendship, is what it's all about. If you struggle with the Mask of Money, don't try to tear this mask off by yourself. Reach out to someone further along the adventure and ask for prayer, wisdom, encouragement. Let the money mask go. My father gave a very vast amount of money throughout his life to God's work. He never did it to get anything back. But he is the most blessed man ever to have lived in the 20th century. (He wouldn't want me to brag about him like this, but he'll have to wait for the resurrection to argue with me.)

Today's mAsks are all about Appearance! What we wear, how we fix our hair, hide our fat . . . our outward appearance can easily become a Mask, a cover-up, for fears and lies about our value.

Money
Appearance:
Marilyn Monroe was a very interesting and unique person. I've read a few books and interviewed people who have talked to people who worked with her. (Wow, how trustworthy is that?)

Not at all unlike the story of Howard Hughes, Marilyn had talent and power. She hung out, slept with, and married some of the most powerful people in her world. She was admired, worshiped, and lusted after by thousands. Still, that empty, gapping hole of not having a parent to tell her how valuable she was, how loved and cared for she was led her down a dark, sad, trail that ended nowhere. Abused, taken advantage of, and finally abandoned by many who called her friend, she died in a cloud of mystery (most likely murder). What a testimony to the hollow shell of hiding behind appearance as a way of feeling good about one's self.

This has been a huge mask in my own life. I became conscious of my appearance when I was eleven. Southern California had just come out with with "flare" pants, soon to be called "bell bottoms." I so wanted a pair. I also pleaded with my mom to "block my hair in the back." She refused and at age 12 I ran away from home. (It lasted for an hour before my dad came and picked me up.) Then I got shipped off to a private boarding school when I was 14 and had to cut my long hair and couldn't wear blue jeans. I'd bought leather jeans, spent way too much on my hair. (God has such a sense of humor, and I'm not blaming God for taking my hair . . . but it does make me laugh.)

When I was in the 6th grade I realized that I had more hair on my arms than any other kid in our entire school (long sleeve shirts for two years). I didn't share with anyone how much I hated my "not big enough" nose until I was nearly thirty.

I've talked with hundreds of people who've been in the prisons of anorexia, binge eating, cutting, burning, and other traps that come when we buy into the mask of appearance. Physical, sexual, and emotional abuse attack our mental psyche. But like any other mask that we use to try and like ourselves, God can set us free. I've seen my friends get their noses redone and other parts remodeled and still no lasting change. There is only one answer. Our value must come from a deep belief that what God says about us is true. No doubt how we treat our bodies can and does make a difference in how strong our belief in what God says sticks. But don't ever think you really will like yourself more by focusing on your appearance.

For seven years I read the following words several times a week - try them out yourself.

Here's one of the three-word prayers I've prayed every day for the past three years - "I Am Yours." Knowing through every fiber of my being that I belong to God, His son in whom He is so pleased. I believe this more and more every day. But oh how I need to hang out with others who believe this too. Praying and staying in God's Word is vital for me.

Tomorrow (maybe) our Masks continue with a look at SKILL. (Do you ever feel valuable because of talent, skill, hard work?) Being a long time workaholic, I've got a few things to say about this one. It's one of the oldest curses recorded in all of written history. The curse of trying to find value by what we DO!