Get a Hold of Yourself: Embracing Authenticity in a Complicated World

Jesus doesn’t shy away from our complexities or contradictions. Nor should we.

We often sense a gap between who we are and who we could be, should be, or feel called to be. “I don’t understand myself,” the apostle Paul writes in the New Testament. “Why do I struggle to do the things I want to do and keep doing the things I don’t want to do?” That might be one of the most relatable passages in the Bible!

As Christians, we’re inclined to seek the Scriptures for guidance, but even Jesus’ teachings can be confusing. If Jesus says we are to die to ourselves and deny ourselves, how do we do that while loving and being true to ourselves? How do we accept our need for growth and grace without feeling like hypocrites? How can we become more Christlike while also becoming more like ourselves?

In Get a Hold of Yourself, pastor Troy Watson digs into some of Jesus’ puzzling teachings to unearth how we can learn to face contradictions rather than avoid them. Jesus’ perplexing stories and paradoxical sayings are meant to shake people from their social defaults and awaken them to a new reality. When we embrace ourselves as both sinners and saints, hurting and healed, cowardly and courageous, we are empowered to live more authentically in our complicated world.