The Voice of Authenticity

I had a life changing experience the other day at a training conference at which I spoke. One of the other speakers, a voice specialist, stated that the most important aspect of a message is “authenticity,” which made me think about my message slated for the next day and how I would present it.

Rather than try to gloss over some trials I had been going through, I decided to be authentic and share my struggles with the audience. The resulting experience was one of the most rewarding of my life, as the message resonated with people in a profound way and led virtually all of them to share with me later how much it had touched them.

And speaking of authenticity, I also read an article by Mark Batterson in Ministry Today that articulated what I had been wrestling with: “Life is too short and leadership is too challenging to try to be two people! At the end of the day, I’d rather be disliked for who I am than liked for who I’m not.”