We're regularly hearing about the need for people to be their 'authentic selves.'
Watch out for this.
If being authentic is about having the freedom to act on whatever impulse that arises within your heart, it's just a cover for what the Bible calls 'living according to the flesh' (Rom.5:13).
And this leads -- as is common today -- to all kinds of ungodly behaviors being accepted and even approved in the name of 'authenticity.'
The devil must love this... since he's always angling for ways to twist words and ideas to get people to embrace what ends up bringing ruin to their souls.
Now, of course, there is a type of authenticity to pursue.
This kind of authenticity doesn't involve embracing habits and lifestyles we ought to be resisting and repenting of though...
Rather, this involves constantly engaging the struggle to put off the old and put on the new...
... in order to consistently live a life marked by love, goodness and truth.
The devil must despise this version of being authentic.
And God must smile upon it.
Because it puts those He's created in a place to reflect His character and live out His good purpose for their lives.
'I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me' (Gal.2:20).