We are created for connection. By design, each of us yearns for relationships that are deep and significant. In Genesis, we read that God recognized it was not good for humans to be alone (Genesis 2:18). Unfortunately, forming meaningful relationships is often rare and can be very challenging. This challenge arises from our reluctance to be vulnerable and share our true selves fully with others. Instead, we tend to project an image that we believe to be proper and admirable. We put on a mask that conceals our weaknesses, fears, regrets, struggles, pains, worries, and sins as we fear revealing our authentic selves to the world.

Because we live in a fallen world, we have been hurt and deceived by others, making it difficult to trust people with intimate secrets that reveal our true selves. Sadly, this lack of trust isn’t limited to people. It extends to God.

The most important relationship that we have is with God. God created us in His image (Genesis 1:26-27) to love and worship Him (Isaiah 43:7). He loves us so much that He sacrificed His Son for us (John 3:16).  His Son, Jesus, loves us so much that He willingly died on the cross, bearing the burden of all our sins, so that we could have a right relationship with God (Romans 5:10). His love is greater than any love we can ever experience on this earth. He knows us better than we know ourselves (Psalm 139:1-2), and yet, He still loves us.

God already knows our weaknesses, our sins, our doubts, and our struggles. He tells us to not only lean on Him in prayer (Proverbs 4:6-7), but He also tells us to share our burdens and to support one another (Galatians 6:2), to be devoted to one another in love (Romans 12:10), to encourage one another and build each other up (Hebrews 10:25; 1 Thessalonians 5:11), and even to confess our sins to one another (James 5:16).

The place where God wants us to be the most relational and, yes, most vulnerable is with His people, the church. With other mature believers in the church, we should be open and honest, confessing our sins and praying for one another. With fellow followers of Christ, we are to have a special relationship. We are all brothers and sisters; we are children of God (1 John 3:1; Galatians 3:26). Scripture tells us that we should know each other well enough that we should bear one another’s burdens (James 5:16).

It will take a leap of faith, but remember these things:

• God calls us to rely on one another, being vulnerable for the sake of our relationship with Him. When we bear the burdens of another, we are fulfilling the law of Christ (Galatian 6:2). Proverbs 27:17 explains to us that as iron sharpens iron, one person sharpens another. Believers bearing one another’s burdens aid each other in becoming more like Christ.
• The prayer of another believer, a righteous person, has great power (James 5:16), and it has great benefit to all. Share yourself with another mature Christian and seek their prayers.
• While we are called to love and care for everyone in the church, we should be wise and discerning about the people with whom we share our innermost thoughts and feelings. We should seek those who are spiritually mature, reverent, sound in their faith, steadfast, self-controlled, above reproach, trustworthy, and openly love God and others (Titus 2:1-15; Matthew 6:33; 1 Timothy 3:2).

Let’s pray that God helps us to remove our masks to become more open and genuine with one another in the church, genuinely loving each other for His glory.