Wanna-Be

May 31st, 2026
by Bruce Smith

March 9, 2019 – Yesterday, I felt God drawing me toward the concept of “fakeness.” The words “wanna-be” and “pretender” came to mind. First of all, what am I faking? I know I have lived a good portion of my walk with Christ with some degree of fakeness involved—appearance outweighing authenticity. Even though no one suspected such of me, inside I died. Hope died. Joy died. Patience died. Positivity died. Humility died. Negative thoughts turned into a sharp tongue and a short fuse. Criticism became my highest virtue and still rears its ugly head regularly and it is a battle for sure.

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For too long I told myself that I wanted to change and even prayed, but to no real avail. Why? Because a prayer without surrender is just a speech. Somewhere deep inside we are all actors. We know how to put on a show for the crowd. But what if we are the crowd? What if the main audience we deceive is ourselves? This is right where our enemy loves for us to live. We are unable to grow in our relationship with God or in our effectiveness in ministry until we honestly deal with the layers of pretense in our lives.

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This is what the Lord says about these people: “They come near to me with hollow words and honor me superficially with their lips; all the while their hearts run far away from me! Their worship is nothing more than man-made rules. So therefore, I will again jolt this people awake with astonishing wonders upon wonders! And the wisdom of their wise ones will fail, and the intelligent know-it-alls will have no explanations.
-Isaiah 29:13-14 (TPT)

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Take a moment today to ask God to open your eyes to see clearly your life and ministry. Surrender completely and let God’s healing come and fill you.