Surely you desire truth
in the inner parts.
—Ps 51:6 NIV
The sun has arced to its highest point
in the desert sky as the wind sculpts patterns in the sand, which is all the
eye can see in any direction, save for a white-robed man seated by the edge of
an ancient well, and a Samaritan woman standing nearby, a water jug by her
side.
She is asking questions. And giving
replies.
Surface replies, that bat away
insight. Openness. Transparency.
The man persists.
Still there is avoidance. Refusal to
go deeper.
Again, he persists, now with home
truths about this woman.
Truths that shock. Truths about her
real self.
Her response?
Not defensiveness. Not resistance.
But honesty.
And surrender.
To the Son of God.
“Come,” the Samaritan woman entreats
the townspeople, “come, see a man who told me everything I ever did” (Jn 4:29
NIV).
Come, invites Jesus. Open yourself to
me. Your interior self. Your personality and behavior. Your person-hood matters
to me.
Why is that, Lord? Why is my
personality important?
Knowing the truth about your inner
self allows you to “do what is true” Jesus says. This self-knowledge will set
you free so that you can better love God and others as you love yourself (Mk
12:30-31).
As you examine and refine thoughts and
actions, behavior and feelings, you develop the loving connection God desires
with you. And build satisfying relationships with other people that flourish,
and do no harm. For “there is nothing outside a person that by going in can
defile, but the things that come out are what defile” (Mk 7:14). Only when you
take action concerning the truth about your inner self can you “come to the
light” (Jn 3:21).
What sort of action, Lord? How do I
grow in the ability to love you and other people as I love myself?
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