Well, the long anticipated prize show is over. All the oscars have been awarded to well-deserving people. I have yet to see The Artist but did get to see The Help and Iron Lady. In my book, they were both very entertaining. I read The Help first and I wondered if anyone outside the Southern culture would understand it. Obviously they  did! I do think Meryl Streep is one of the finest actresses of our day. What a gift she has! Her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher was superb.

We award people for being “fake”! That’s what acting is all about. For the actors and actresses they know it is about pretending to be someone else – it’s their job. And when they leave the set they can go back to being their true selves. At least I hope so. If they do not, they get into trouble. Too often we have seen the demise of talented people who begin to believe their press release. They begin to feel they are “special”, the rules don’t apply to them. We saw the meltdown of Mel Gibson and Micheal Richards (played Cosmo on Seinfield). But we also see this in our churches – where pastors, leaders, begin to think they are “special”. Pastors are different but that doesn’t make them special – just different and different is OK. It’s what adds variety to life!

Scripture tells us, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought but rather think of yourself with sober judgment…” How do we do this? We begin by 1.) taking our focus off of ourselves and turning it onto God. Changing our focus is a choice. Then we must 2.) learn to tell ourselves the truth. Often we have believed our own lies – ask God to show them to you. Find a few friends who will tell you the truth and hold you accountable. Being told the truth doesn’t have to be negative. Sometimes we believe the lie that we are inadequate in some way, we don’t measure up. That lie may have come from childhood…we need to affirm ourselves with truth. You are loved, valued. You belong. You have significance. You have purpose.

God bestows all of that on us.