The Ugly Truth

"Ugh..."

That's really all I can say.

Have you ever been forced to look at yourself? I mean, your real self... not the self that you project to others at the job, or at church, or at school. I mean the self that those CLOSEST to you see on a regular... as well as the self that NO ONE sees... except you.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN FORCED TO LOOK AT YOURSELF?

I have. And what I've seen is not pretty. I just recently saw the movie The Ugly Truth, with Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy, 27 Dresses) and Gerard Butler (300, P.S. I Love You)... a movie that depicts (very badly, I must say) the ugly truth about men and women and romance (read that, lust). The main thrust of the movie is that we must face the ugly truth about what the opposite sex is really looking for.

In the same way, we must face the ugly truth about who we really are... deep down inside. And believe me... to face it, is NOT pretty. I am coming face to face with the fact that I am prideful, I am selfish, I am lustful, I am angry, I am moody... I am a lot of things that I've pointed my finger at others about. In short, I... AM... SINFUL!

There it is... I've said it! The "S" word! We don't like to say we're sinful... we just "have issues." Yeah, we do have issues... and at the top of the issue list is that WE'RE SINFUL!! I hate the fact that I'm such a sinner... because I'm so daggoned good at it!! I don't wanna be, but it seems I was born an expert at this thing...

But you know what? Having seen the real me... and having recognized me for who and what I am... I feel a little better. No, I don't like what I see... but I feel better, because acknowledging there's something wrong is half the battle. There is a REASON why the Bible says that the "heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick" (Jer. 17:9); there is a REASON why the apostle Paul said that "nothing good dwells in" us (Rom. 7:18). Because the UGLY TRUTH is that we're sinful, we need Jesus to save us, and we need Him to live His life through us... because we simply cannot do it on our own. I can't. You can't. And that's the UGLY TRUTH.

But that's not a totally bad thing...

... knowing the UGLY TRUTH is half the battle.