The character, Polonius, in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” uttered one of the most famous and parroted quotes, “This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.” This has become a rallying cry for both self-honesty and self-recognition. The merits of this quote have been debated for centuries but, suffice it to say, there is some truth to this.

I’m going to tell you upfront, this is a Good News Message. This is a feel-good message. This is unicorns and rainbows, sugarplums and gingerbread houses. With the help of the Holy Spirit, I pray you leave feeling better about yourself than you ever did!

2 Corinthians 5:17 - (AMP) Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!

The first, and perhaps, the best news first: In Christ you are something that never existed before. You are unique and special. There is none like you. You are created in the image and likeness of God and there is none like him. You are more unique than a snowflake and more precious than rare metals and jewels.

Psalms 139:14-16 (AMPC) 14 I will confess and praise You for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are Your works, and that my inner self knows right well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colors] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery]. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them.

You are fearfully (reverently) and wonderfully (extravagantly) made. You are created from the foundation of time to be great and to do great works!

You are uniquely authentic. You are created with the very DNA of God and signed with the fingerprint of God. You are unique in all creation and authentic in your being!

Here’s the challenging part — being authentic. You can only truly do what you know yourself to be. One of the reasons why people struggle in life the way they do is because they are doing things inconsistent with their being. It’s like trying to be a banker when you were purposed to be a baker — you’re dealing in the wrong kind of dough! In order to fully walk in your uniqueness, you must be authentically you.

Jesus had a strong word for people who behaved inconsistently with their speech — hypocrites! The hypocrites were Pharisees and teachers of the law who preached one thing but their actions didn’t line up with their words. This is what law and religion produces: it is impossible to uphold the law in its entirety, so it’s adherents frequently have to fake it to keep up their religious appearances. In other words, law and religion cannot produce disciples — they can only produce hypocrites.

But Love and Grace free you to be authentic. Grace acknowledges that you’re flawed in flesh but perfected in spirit. And Love reveals it’s unending capacity for empathy and compassion toward you. You are not a robot created for empty hollow worship, you are a child conceived in love to reflect the love of God in your being and to manifest this love to others. When you embrace this, authenticity flows from you and any vestige of hypocrisy is displaced from you!

Now here’s the second part of the Good News, here — when you gain understanding of your true being, your doing will reflect the transformation. Legalism says Grace is a license to sin but it’s really a revelation of your holy and righteous nature or being. Once you realize this, you will recognize the goodness within you and you will reflect this goodness outwardly. In other words,