True Colors

     Fall is in the air and I love it!  My favorite thing is the changing colors of the landscape. I think it is amazingly beautiful and it fascinates me. While living in Montana, the thing I missed most was the multiple colors of the trees in Fall. The yellow Aspens were wonderful, but I missed the purple, red, gold, and orange trees. When I was younger, I always thought the green leaves were turning random colors in Fall, until I read a children’s book to Bryce about why the trees change colors. Let me remind you of something we all learned in science class: it is the chlorophyll process that turns all trees green. In the Autumn season, our part of the world is turning away from the sun. With the onset of the fading sunlight, the demise of green pigment unmasks the true colors of the leaves. The leaves begin to return to their natural colors. That is why all aspens are yellow and all oaks are shades of red.  Now doesn’t that make you appreciate the Fall colors more?
     People are like these trees. We start at a young age conforming to the expectations of society. We strive hard to be like everyone else. We become fearful of letting people see our true colors. We build walls and function in the state of formalities. We wear green masks. I wish that I could say that Christians do not participate in this process, but I think Christians have a tendency to wear masks the most. We present ourselves like we have it all together, like we are the perfect Christian, living the perfect life. Satan convinces us we wouldn’t be accepted by other Christians if they knew what we were really like. So we keep on striving to be pretty green trees, masking who we really are.
      I encourage you to be real. Drop the mask. Let your true colors shine! God didn’t make this world in one color and He didn’t make people in one color. Also, I encourage you to stop seeing others as a pretty green tree. We have co-workers, fellow church members, friends and family which we view to be just like everyone else. We don’t really take time to stop and care enough to inquire about their lives and their struggles or to share love with them and truly listen to them. If we would, we might see walls come down, formalities go away, and masks drop off. When that happens we can see one another for who we are, our uniqueness, our beauty, our true colors. How colorful is your world?

Let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.
Romans 12:6 (The Message)