For an introduction from myself, Mark Banks, and for information on the origins of this site and the role that movies have played in my life please click here.
For me, a personal approach to the question ‘why Jesus?’ has one simple answer, and that is that the more true and honest I am to myself, the happier I am, the more relaxed I am, and the more at peace I am with myself and those around me. And that to me is the heart of what Jesus's message is – being true to oneself. Yes His message is about charity, it’s about forgiveness, it’s about justice, faith, mercy, grace and love, but to me those are all encapsulated by simply being honest to myself; and that in turn means being honest to others and honest to the Lord.
Being true to ourselves is popular talk these days; kids, rappers and pop stars all talk of “keeping it real”, psychologists and therapists encourage people just to “be yourself”, and many of us can recall an occasion when we’ve “felt like a different person” for better or for worse, when undertaking a certain activity, when working a particular job, or when in a certain place or with certain people.
I’m not sure that I’ve ever really been my true self though, and I know that to a degree it still eludes me now. The answer that comes back is “well stop doing what you’re doing and be yourself then!” Yet as we all know this is easier said than done. For what I am now discovering is that it is only by the grace of God and intervention of Jesus that I am able to be my true self. And that will come in His time. Of late I appear to be moving closer to my true self at a good pace, for a few years previously it was quite a slow process, and before that I was actively moving further and further away from my true self. But the fact is that to stop doing the things that I hate doing, and to start doing the things that I really like doing, and more to the point to keep those changes going for any amount of time, I am completely dependent upon the help and intervention of our Lord Jesus Christ. For it is only when His Spirit dwells in me, that I am able to come close to anything like being my true self.
If you are interested in my personal story and experiences of being true to myself (or otherwise), please clickhere >>>.
