When We Share Our Burdens With Others

How often do you open up and share with others the realness of your heart? How much do you really put yourself out there to share the real you?  Instead of sharing the pieces of the good parts of what can be deemed wonderful in your life, how much do you share that you struggle with too?

When I think of how our natural tendencies of this day is shared on social media with perfection,  I feel we loose a sense of connecting in a way that shares the interpersonal side of things so much. We as humans long to see others in real-time dealing with real, everyday struggles. We want to know that the normal part of life is that we all have the good mixed in with the bad. We want to find others who we can expose the struggles with that we face each day. Even more, we want to feel like we aren't that strange. 

In a sense, when all we ever seem to see is everyone's best, it makes us feel inadequate. When other people appear to have it all together, it can make us feel crazy. Unfortunately, although we shouldn't compare, we find ourselves doing so when others only share the good parts.

For a long time, I fell into a trap of putting my best out there for the world to see. I rarely opened up and I rarely wanted anyone to see the real me.  As Christians, it's easy to fall into the trap of wanting to do things right, desiring to be labeled "good." However, that is works-based (Ephesians 2:8) and approval-seeking. That is not how Jesus see us. He sees the real us. 

I am a believer of Christ who lives in a fallen world. I am faced with everyday temptations and make mistakes often. Nonetheless, I would share my good side on social media portraying the things that deemed myself content while uploading pictures of all that I may have been "blessed" with by God. 

Then came a time of real hardship with a struggle of trying to breathe air. It was a time of truly feeling like I was soul searching and discovering many things along the way. Finally, I discovered the power of opening up and sharing the battles with others. It's a huge release when we can share the real us to the world. 

Galatians 6:2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Folks, why do we worry about sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly? Why can we not only celebrate the great things in life but also pour out our hearts in a way that we can connect on a deeper level? Are we afraid that our problems will bring only annoyance or trouble to someone else? How about instead of seeing our concerns as torture for another  person, we see it as a blessing for them to give wisdom? 

I don't know about you but there is a special something that happens when we uncover another person's reality. We can be humble about our experiences. We can use that knowledge to love one another and pray in those areas for one another. More than anything, we can be an encouragement to another by being real. 

"Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of trouble, attempts what is above its strength, pleads no excuse of impossibility; for it thinks all things lawful for itself, and all things possible."-Anonymous

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