Being Real > Being Perfect: How Transparency Leads to TransformationSample

Taking Off the Ill-Fitting Armor

The shepherd boy David was asked to run an errand for his father. David’s older brothers were at war with the Philistines, and they had forgotten to pack a lunch. So Jesse asked David to take them something to eat.

When David arrived on the battlefield, there was no battle. It was a standoff. The Philistines had a giant, and Saul, the king of Israel, believed they had no hope.

We pick up the story:

“Don’t worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth” (1 Samuel 17:32-33).

David persisted in arguing his case.

Saul finally consented “All right, go ahead,” he said. “And may the Lord be with you!”

Then Saul gave David his own armor—a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before.

“I can’t go in these,” he protested to Saul. “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off again. (verses 38–39)

He took them off.

Basically, David said, “I know who I am, and I can’t be me wearing your armor.” David had confident security in his identity.

What about you? In a defining moment, are you secure in who you are and what God has called you to do? Or are you more inclined to “fake it till you make it”?

God can change who you are. What God can’t do is make you into who you pretend to be. God can only transform the parts of your heart you are willing to give to Him.

Authenticity is the pathway to the transformation you desperately desire.

What do you need to take off to start being you and stop being who you are pretending to be?