Sharing is caring...

So let me now add sharing to the list of things that I have been learning about. Over the past few months, I have been learning a lot about the importance of sharing. Now I know that this seems like an elementary topic, but I am not talking about sharing toys or material objects. I am talking about sharing your life, this includes: your sorrows, your struggles, your love, your joy, your faith, etc. Why is it so hard to share some of these things with others?

I know why it has been hard for me to share because I have had a fear of people. I believe if we looked at everyone's answers to the question above all of our answers would be connected by the same word...fear. We all have or have had this fear of people to some degree. I have been learning about how to overcome this fear by placing my fear in the Lord and believing in His sovereignty.

Since, I started on this journey to overcoming my fear of people I have been trying to open myself up more and more to people. I have purposefully been placing myself in some uncomfortable positions in order to be stretched and rely on God's strength. I have talked to people that normally I wouldn't talk to and I have shared bits and pieces of my life that normally I wouldn't share. This has not been an easy process, but I am starting to see everything coming together. I am starting to see the importance of sharing your life with others and being transparent.

There is something beautiful that takes place when you share your life with someone else. I have felt so encouraged by some people that I have shared with recently and God has used them to encourage me to keep on sharing. By sharing my life with others, I am opening myself up to them and being transparent. I am also being obedient to God by trying to live out 2 Corinthians 13:11, "Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace". There is always the risk of rejection, but that is a risk I am willing to take because I know that God is in control over all things and that my identity is in Him.

You never know what might come out of simply saying hi, smiling, or stopping to talk. There is one conversation that I will never forget from high school...a few days before graduation a girl walked up to me and said, "Chelsea, I just want to say thank you for always saying hi and waving at me in the hallway". I wasn't sure why she was thanking me so I smiled and said, "Your welcome, but everyone says hi in the hallway". Her next response shocked me, "No they don't. You are the only one who did". You never know what is going on in someone's life so slow down, and take some time to share with one another and build one another up in the Lord.