Is this freedom?

Here's a recent face book post. Most people respond with a "thumbs up" like or maybe even a "wow." What about you?

Stop a minute and ponder what this really says. This quote really means that your "real self" is in some kind of bondage to how others see you.

This phenomenon is explained in human psychology as the need for legitimacy. It explains why people feel they must "wear a mask" of some kind to portray what they think others should see that makes them feel OK.

When I pressed the one who posted this quote with the question, "what keeps people from 'being yourself' all the time?" she replied,
"Nobody is. But, ultimately, that’s the goal. The ego gap is a source of rampant unhappiness." 

Wait, I am now confused. Here is a quote that feels warm and fuzzy to almost everyone, at least on the surface, yet it is what causes us to be unhappy. Do you see the irony here?

Young people are seemingly infatuated with the idea of "integrity." Yet, integrity occurs when our public self and our private self are integrated or one in the same. So again, without much thought a young person would LIKE this post because its warm and fuzzy but it represents the very source of unhappiness and lack of integrity.

ay yi yi

What's even more interesting, the very Gospel many young people find irrelevant in their life is the solution to this problem. The freedom of the Gospel is that no one who receives Jesus as their life has to seek legitimacy from those around them in any way. Freedom in Christ is the ONLY opportunity for a joyful and peaceful soul that never has to pretend to be something they are not to win approval of others.

"but we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not ourselves"

Now that is GOOD NEWS everyone should ponder  .....