Where God's Word Meets Our Mess
As you know, TTT is a place where God’s Word meets our mess. It’s where I share personal stories + Scripture to encourage you. And I realize I write about the importance of “being real” with others quite often. But I also realize it can be difficult to do that in a co-ed setting, like a co-ed small group through your church. That’s why I want to share three practical ways you can be transparent in your co-ed small group (without being awkward).
Perhaps I’m not very fond of surface-level conversations because, as an introvert, I appreciate connecting with friends on a deep level—like one-on-one meetings at cute coffee shops and after-church conversations that last until the pastor turns out the lights in the sanctuary. Although big gatherings can be intimidating to me, small gatherings are my happy place. I enjoy getting to know people better by asking good questions and by giving good answers to their questions. Here are a few characteristics that I believe are essential for having meaningful conversations.
These are questions that the typical single girl with a high sex drive asks herself about sex. I’m not judging you if you’ve asked yourself these—and lots more—questions about sex. But as single girls with a high sex drive, what can we do while we wait to get married and have sex? Here are a couple simple things.
We’ve all heard that we need to wear our hearts on our sleeves and let our emotions determine how we act. But if you’ve ever been rejected by a friend whom you bared your soul to or ignored by a boyfriend whom you spoke intimately with or reprimanded by a mentor whom you shared your darkest secret with, then you know that wearing your heart on our sleeve is messy.
I didn’t think that life would turn out this way. I thought that I was a fun, pretty, and sweet Christian girl. So why is this happening to me? Why am I still single?
But believers are not going to grow in their faith by talking about the weather, sports, or politics. On the contrary, believers are going to grow in their faith by sharing their current addictions, temptations, and sins. I believe there are three main reasons why we should be transparent about our struggles.
I hate my body. I’ve honestly hated it for years. Nothing is wrong with it—it works perfectly. It's completely healthy. But I still hate it because it doesn't look the way I want it to look. And truth be told, it never will.
Unfortunately, insecurity is just a part of life. There’s no way to avoid it or delay it. We can’t expect it to go away when we get older, and we can’t better ourselves so that we no longer experience it. It’s simply a consequence of the Fall when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. But there is something significant that you should know about insecurity that you've probably never heard before.
But the truth is that the shocked, unable-to-respond, shunning Christians are probably hiding something from you, too. Even though their struggles are as real as yours, it’s unlikely that they’ll share them. As I talked about in Part 1, being authentic is hard. It’s easiest to hide because other Christians might judge us or reject us if we’re honest.
Tizzie's Tidbits of Truth 