Obligation
Acting out of obligation rather than authenticity typically means that your actions are driven more by a sense of duty, societal expectations, or external pressures rather than by your true feelings, values, or desires.

Motivation: Your actions are motivated by a sense of duty or responsibility rather than genuine interest or passion. For example, you might pursue a career path because it’s expected of you rather than because you truly enjoy it.

Conformity: You adhere to societal or religious norms or expectations even if they don’t align with your true personal beliefs or values. This could involve following traditions or rules simply because “that’s how things are done.”

Suppression of Self: You may suppress your true feelings or desires in order to meet the expectations of others. This can lead to a sense of internal conflict or dissatisfaction over time.
Lack of Fulfillment: Acting out of obligation can sometimes result in feelings of emptiness or lack of fulfillment, as you’re not living authentically or in alignment with your true self.

External Validation: Your sense of validation or worth may come primarily from external sources, such as praise or recognition from others, rather than from within yourself based on your own values and principles.

Being your authentic self means living in a way that is true to your own nature, personality, and values, rather than imitating what you believe others expect or want from you. It involves:
1. Self-awareness: Understanding your own values, beliefs, and emotions.
2. Self-acceptance: Embracing who you truly are, including your strengths and weaknesses.
3. Authentic expression: Acting and communicating in a way that reflects your inner self and values.
4. Courage: Being willing to show vulnerability and take risks by being true to yourself.

Authenticity involves being genuine and sincere in your actions, decisions, and interactions with others. It often leads to a greater sense of fulfillment, as you are living a life that aligns with your true identity and purpose.

Authenticity is huge for me… I never want to present anything on the stage at GodWhy that you would not see congruent with who I am out to dinner, at a ballgame, on the lake, or dealing with traffic.

BUT… often I find the people feel their authentic self is unremarkable, ordinary, common place, and without any real true significance.

SONG - “Does to Me” Luke Combes

One thing I love about the Scriptures is that people are presented in an authentic way… They are not presented as Saints and flawless lives. We see their flaws, their failures, and how God works within their brokenness.

Joseph -

Young and lack of wisdom… Pampered Dreamer
Genesis 37:3-4 Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph—a beautiful robe. But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.
2 Dreams… Brothers and Parents will bow down to him.

A noble slave…
Genesis 39:2-6 The LORD was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. Potiphar noticed this… so he soon made Joseph his personal attendant. He put him in charge of his entire household and everything he owned. From the day Joseph was put in charge of his master’s household and property, the LORD began to bless Potiphar’s household for Joseph’s sake. All his household affairs ran smoothly, and his crops and livestock flourished. So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he didn’t worry about a thing—except what kind of food to eat!

Genesis 39:6-10 Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’But he refused. ‘With me in charge,’ he told her, ‘my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?’ And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

No good deed goes unpunished…

Genesis 39:20-23 While Joseph was there in the prison, the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

Alone and forgotten…
Genesis 40:14-15 (chief cupbearer)… When all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.’
Genesis 40:21-23 He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand– but he impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation. The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.
When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream…
Before Pharaoh…
Sold at the age of 17 and now he is 30 years old…
Genesis 41:15-16 Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.’
‘I cannot do it,’
Joseph replied to Pharaoh, ‘but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.

A ring… And understanding
Genesis 41:38-42 ‘Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of the Gods?’
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.’ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.’ Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger.
The understanding… Jacob, Josephs father was not raising a leader… So God takes over. Joseph has the opportunity through his integrity to learn to manage an entire household (as a slave), and as soon as he is mastered all of those skills, he gets to manage one of the most difficult environments, a prison, and when he has successfully managed all the areas of the prison… He has a places a ring his finger and a the mandate to manage a country… And he is totally prepared.

1. Self-awareness: Understanding your own values, beliefs, and emotions.
2. Self-acceptance: Embracing who you truly are, including your strengths and weaknesses.
3. Authentic expression: Acting and communicating in a way that reflects your inner self and values.
4. Courage: Being willing to show vulnerability and take risks by being true to yourself.