Oversharing

I am an oversharer. 

When we hear that term, most of us think of the people who give way-too-detailed descriptions of their bodily functions, or those who post every move they make as a Twitter update. 

But for my purposes, being an oversharer has a different meaning. I would loosely define it as someone who shares deep and intimate parts of their lives and relationship with God with people outside of their own personal inner circle. 

Hopefully, that makes some sort of sense. Basically, someone who's not scared to be vulnerable (in a productive way) with others. 

I have not always thought of myself as an oversharer. In fact, it didn't really cross my mind until yesterday, when I shared some deep parts of my life and what I'm learning with a girl I barely know. 

I've always considered myself a pretty private person. I can be vulnerable with God and with those extremely close to me, for the most part anyway. But recently, I've seen how that has progressed to sharing with others. 

Yesterday, I was talking to a girl, and just through regular conversation, relationships became the new topic. For me, the past year has been interesting in terms of relationships, to say the least. It's not something that is just super easy to talk about, try to explain, or even try to make myself understand. But here I was, pouring out my story to this girl. In the process, I realized I was pouring out my heart, and because my heart belongs to Jesus, His love was flowing out of that. 

This was a crazy realization. At first, I felt like I was crazy for sharing things. But I soon realized that God could be glorified through what I was sharing. And it wasn't that I was sharing super personal details. There is a point to draw the line; people don't need to know the absolute depths of your life and heart. I was simply sharing my honest story, my honest feelings, and what God did in and through that. 

Oversharing is a sign of vulnerability, something God appreciates, expects, and uses for His glory. My friend Kim has a great blog post about vulnerability in which she says, "It's [vulnerability] not a form of weakness like society seems to tell us it is. But instead, it is a form of strength." Wow. There is such power in that. Being vulnerable takes courage, and rewards can come from it. 

This idea was continued when my friend Nathan pointed me to the verses Matthew 5:14-16. You may know it: it's about letting your light shine before men. But Nathan quoted it to me in a form I've never heard, using the Message bible. Now normally, I'm pretty cautious about using the Message for my own personal study, but I loved the way this was put. (No offense to any of you who read the Message.) "Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—-shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven."

"By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God." Wow. Isn't that exactly what we want? Even if we don't see a purpose in sharing our lives, it made lead the person we are sharing with to be vulnerable with God later. That's reward enough for me! 

Bethany Dillon sings a great song called "Let Your Light Shine". One of the lines in that song says, "So gently welcoming the weakest things in me." God wants our weaknesses so He can transform them. By being fearless and sharing those weaknesses with others, they can actually see where God is working in us. 

We think we have the right to privacy. But instead, maybe we have the privilege to let go of that privacy. 

So for now, and for as long as God wants to use me...

My name is Bethany, and I am an oversharer. 

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Link to Kim's blog, "Quia amasti me..."

Links to Nathan's webpages:  FlyboyProductions & Behance Network

Link to Bethany Dillon's "Let Your Light Shine"