Nothing More Than Peelings

I like bananas. I mean, I like fruit in general. But I like bananas. The thing about bananas is, they're nutritious.
They taste good. And they're so versatile. You can eat them plain, cut them into your Cheerios, put them in grilled peanut butter sandwiches, bake them into bread... you get the idea. Hundreds of ways to enjoy the deliciousness that is the banana.

But you have to peel it first.

(Now, before the Whole Foods movement launches an attack, yes, you can eat the peel. But I'm talking about the fruit itself.)

To get the best use out of the banana, you have to remove the tough, bitter outer layer. Only then can you get to the wonderful, versatile fruit I've described.

Humans often have a similar shell. A peel, if you will. Created by circumstance: hurts, betrayals, fears -- these peels protect our soft, squishy reality from the harsh world outside. Like the banana peel, this outer layer is tough. It's bitter. And it renders us mostly useless.

The truth is, you can't be the most you -- you can't be everything you could be -- as long as you stay inside your peel. Until you expose the real you, until you offer up yourself -- including the soft, squishy fruit in the middle  -- for God's use, all you can be is an unpeeled banana. The peel is there to help you ripen... but stay inside and you simply rot, no good to anyone.

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

 If you want to love authentically, and to be loved authentically, you have to get beyond the outer layer, expose the true You, and look for it in others. Just be gentle: we bananas bruise easily.