Authenticity
Part 1
Strong's Greek: 831. αὐθεντέω (authenteó) -- To have authority, to ...
Classical
Greek employs cognate nouns for a “master” or “perpetrator.” By the Hellenistic
and early Roman eras, verbs in this word[i]
In contemporary Greek, αυθεντικός is the most common term for "authentic," used to describe something that is genuine, original, or trustworthy, such as authentic food, documents, or experiences….[ii]
AUTHENTICITY Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
The meaning of AUTHENTICITY is the quality of being authentic : the quality of being authoritative, valid, true, real, or genuine[iii]
Authentic people are those who strive to align their actions with their core values and beliefs. Biblically this means someone who base their standard on what is written in God’s word with regarding to their character, especially exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit of God in their lives. This is with the hope of discovering, and then acting in sync with, their true selves. These individuals when they act in ways that violate their self-concept, and their core values they may experience negative feelings, ranging from mild discomfort to heavy guilt.
“To do the truth is at any rate to live up to what one knows; to live an honest, conscientious life.” (Dods)
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth; Jn. 4: 24.
The Spirit of God in a Christian soul recognizes the spirit in another. When a person has the Spirit of God, another spirit filled person recognizes and leaps within to hear the other person speak. A good example will be when Mary met her cousin Elisabeth at the mountain.
And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb; Lk. 1: 41-42.
When a person’s spirit is not aligned with the Spirit of God and meets a person aligned in God’s Spirit something very powerful can happen.
Deep moral and spiritual darkness
Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly; Mk. 6: 20.
Authenticity is the force of the Spirit of God. This person’s identity is anchored in truth and shaped by God. Not controlled by fear, flattery or approval from others. Authenticity exposed what darkness hides over time; and destabilizes manipulation and evil.
“More weak than cruel, Herod listened to John with an undeniable fascination. John’s word left him perplexed, and in anguish. Yet he found a strange pleasure in the authoritative preaching of this holy man, whose stringent life gave added power to his probing word. Too weak to follow John’s counsel, he nevertheless had to listen.” (Lane)
Breaking through to
authenticity is not a one-time decision; it’s a daily practice with much effort.
This requires our own self-awareness, vulnerability, weaknesses, some times our
child hood practices in life for survival to varied difficult situations. This
indeed requires courage to embrace both our strengths and imperfections boldly
wanting to move to moral and spiritual wellness. One had to remember some of
the messy chapters of past life to start
with. This is exactly where the greatest breakthroughs had to happen.
When you commit to authentic communication,
you’re rewiring your brain for connection, empathy, and resilience. You’re
creating a ripple effect that can transform your relationships, your community,
and ultimately, your life.[iv]
Authenticity carries light, which reveals everything around. Truth cannot blend with pretense; but exposes one’s emotional distortions, the hidden web of charms disguised in as spiritual camouflage.
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved; Jn. 3: 20.
“They chose to walk in the darkness, that they might do the works of darkness-they broke the Divine law, refused the mercy offered to them, are arrested by Divine justice, convicted, condemned, and punished. Whence, then, does their damnation proceed? From THEMSELVES.” (Clarke)
Authenticity destroys one’s illusion of control: confusion as one’s shield, manipulation the language, emotional de-stability, false perceptions, mixed signals, guilt tripping, strategic charms applied to keep people off the balance, doing long charming prayers in front of people to hide who they really are, and the identity one builds on false ground. Good example is the contrast between Jesus and the Pharisees who are spiritually abusing the people; Reference Matthew 23.
“There is another kind of slavery than social or economic slavery. Sin is a slave-master, and it is possible even for people who think of themselves as free to be enslaved in sin.” (Bruce)
Neuroscience of deception
Your brain is architecturally equipped for deception, not because you lack integrity, but because lying recruits a coordinated network of prefrontal suppression, anterior cingulate conflict monitoring, and limbic threat calculation that evolved long before moral philosophy. Dr. Sydney Ceruto has observed over 26 years that the most consequential form of deception is rarely the lie told to others. It is the lie the brain tells itself: the motivated reasoning that rewrites memory, filters perception, and constructs narratives that protect the self-concept at the expense of accurate reality testing.[v]
Authenticity is God’s way of stripping
those illusions apart; one’s insecurity, brokenness, and forces the person to
see themselves, which they had avoided too long. The peace the authentic
personality carries is a threat to chaos for someone who does not live in
truth. The character, the emptiness inside, and the counterfeit identity person
projected will be stripped away.
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin; Jn. 8: 34.
“We should not minimize
the force of ‘bondservant’. It does not mean a person who is paid wages and who
has a considerable area of freedom. It means a slave.” (Morris)
[ii] I.bid.; Greek word…
[iii] Merriam Webster https://www.merriam-webster.com › dictionary › authenticity
[iv]The Neuroscience of Authentic
Communication and its Impact on Our Brain and Relationships
[v] mindlabneuroscience.com https://mindlabneuroscience.com
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