We (included is me) try to find our self worth through the things of this world. We cling to the things of this world for our identity. Careers, occupation, money, power, righteousness, kids, the wisdom of our kids, the athletic prowess our kids, our house, our car, material possessions, our spouse – it seems the things of the world added together equal our self worth. We even glorify our faith in God to create an identity.

We crave self-glorification. This need has driven the popularity of social media in our culture. We mask our public lives and create lives on social media to drive our own self worth. We create an identity that we want others to admire. We want others to crave our lives. Our self worth is our identity.

To make sure we do not hurt our identity, we create a mask, a facade we wear for public view. The mask is never to be removed to reveal the real you. After all, our identity would take a hit. The public would not like the real person. My public persona is much better than the real person. So, I will do anything to protect my identity.

We (included is me) have an issue with pride. We can’t let the real person out because that person has faults. The real me has real issues, real shortcomings, real fears, real questions, real problems that would harm my identity. My self worth would take a hit if the real me came out.

What if we removed the mask, became transparent? What if we stopped working to develop our identity in social media? What if our identity was no longer tied to the things of this world?

Maybe the pressure would be relieved. Maybe our lives could be free to focus on others. Just maybe we could develop real relationships with real people. And, maybe we would no longer have to feed our self worth to develop our identity.

The world craves transparency.

Impact others. Live generously.