"Keep It Real With Yourself"

Scripture: "For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work." -James 3:16

Over the past twenty plus years, there's a phrase that's a part of our everyday vernacular. This phrase has an individual telling another individual not to be phony or to let out what's really on their mind. This phrase is "keep it real". There are so many people that say "Man, I'm going to keep it real with you" or "Girl, I'm going to keep it real because that's all I can do". On the flip side of that, some of us use the phrase "keep it real", but do not know how to be real with one another or most importantly, ourselves. There are times where a friend may say, "Man, you are busting out of your pants" and you would say "Naw, it's just that happy fat". The devil is a lie! You're getting fat! Just keep it real! In the case of a sister, you may hear this conversation, "Girl, I am feeling that dress" when in hind sight, you are not because you are saying that to make the individual feel good. If we look at this thing spiritually, are we really keeping it real with ourselves? I can be blatantly honest for all of us: NO! The reason I say this is because we all have the ability to see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear and do what we want to do. On today, I come to encourage you, my brother, and my sister, to keep it real with yourself! Today's text provides us insight why it is important to keep it real with yourself.

Today's Word is found in the book of James. Within this third chapter, we find James dealing with two critical subjects: the taming of the tongue and the two types of wisdom. Today's main scripture is found under the subject area dealing with the two types of wisdom. For a good read on keeping it real when it comes to your mouth and being God's man/woman, then James would be a great book.

James begins the text by saying, "For where envying and strife is". In keeping it real with yourself, you must be able to identify what your heart is feeling. Many of us put on the façade of everything being honky dory and when in all actuality, we are tore up from the floor up. There are times we have entered the work place or the house of God with this big grin on our face towards our brothers and sisters, and yet and still there's an underline hate for them. Keep it real with yourself! James mentions "envying and strife". Envying is simply being jealous of someone for something he/she has and you want it. Strife being that you are in pure unadulterated hate mode for no apparent reason. These two things are not good for you or on you. The closing of this text will depict to you why if you possess these things on you why you need to keep it real with yourself.

James closes this text by showing us the byproduct of when we do not keep it real with ourselves. He goes on to say, "there is confusion and every evil work". Ladies and gentlemen, if you were to keep it real with yourself and short circuit the "inner envy and strife" you may have, then you would kill the confusion and your work would not be evil. God loves you and I so much that He built us in His likeness and in His own image! When He built that image, He built it in mind that we would be honest with ourselves and not point the finger at our brother and sister! Many of our marriages end because of envy and strife! Many of our friendships end because of envy and strife! Many of our relationships end because of envy and strife! We cannot enter the throne of grace boldly because of envy and strife! But, I come to serve notice on the enemy today, that he is a liar! The truth is not in him! The people of God will walk in the fullness of being real! They will examine themselves even the more on a daily basis to make sure that evil and envy are not a part of their vocabulary! They are going to keep it real with themselves!

In closing, we use the phrase "keep it real" like it's going out of style. When you are a child of God, it's imperative to keep it real with yourself and make sure that envy nor strife is on you or a part of you. When you do that, then there is no confusion and the enemy cannot do you any harm! My prayer is that you not only keep it real with your family and friends, but keep it real with yourself!