Be emotionally honest.

It's a statement, like many statements, that is easier said than done. We can say it's important, but until we know what emotional honesty looks like, being told to partake in it isn't of much use to us; it's relatively frusterating.
Perhaps, like me, you've lived in a house where emotional honesty has been devalued and thereby, a little bit distorted. Maybe your dad yelled at you when you tried to speak up. Maybe a treasured friend didn't care. Maybe it just makes you feel weak and exposed. Whatever the case, you, like me, may have taken emotional honesty and allowed it to be twisted up until it started to look like an enemy. Please don't do that. What's happening in your heart is valid. It's important. And I/we want to be a part of it.

Emotional honesty means it's okay to express your heart. It's okay to have had a crappy day. I'm not glad that you did, but it's okay to tell me so. Emotional honesty means that when you feel hopeless in every way, or perplexed, frusterated, abandoned, excited, exuberant...you can speak it out. We need to know that we are not alone - we need to know that we are not going though these heartbeats alone.

If we can express our hearts, it means a lot. It means that others can hear you, and how often is it that we simply want to be heard? Not only that, but we can learn how to love you (forgive me, as I make mistakes in learning to do so), support you, cherish you, suffer with you, and rejoice with you. We can learn that we're not alone.

But if even that leaves you feeling like your honest emotions don't matter, consider the fact that we learn from each others stories. We were created for community. And we long for community.
In times when I have come alongside a hurting friend, when I have listened to anothers heart cry, I have learned infinitley more than I have ever on my own. I am sure that through sharing our stories we help each other. We begin to identify our behaviors and the ways of thinking behind them, to identify what is truth, and recieve healing.

Most importantly, it is good and valid and important to be emotionally honest, because we are called to, by our Creator and Friend. And if he deems it worth while, it must be.

And so because we are being honest, we can be ourselves. There is no reason to hide. Embrace knowing and being known! In bearing our hearts, lies can be exposed, and the truth of Christ spoken over. Because of that, for me anyway, emotional honesty means stepping toward freedom.