How Do You Play Your Ace Card?

“I’d rather be honest than impressive.” ~Unknown

I was talking to one of my friends a few months back. It was one of those conversations that  made me inadvertently pause and reflect on my own behavior. She told me she’d been really working on not using her “ace card” in conversations. I was curious and asked her to explain. Our ace cards are our go-to accomplishments, the ones we are proud of and talk about to other people. My friend went on to explain how, when we share just our ace cards or highlight reels with each other, it inhibits us from true intimacy with others.

Afterward, I thought about my own ace cards, how I whip them out without even thinking when I am nervous or talking to someone I don’t know well. I was surprised to realize I have at times used those accomplishments to hide my imperfections. I’d been completely blind to this.

I want to be candid here. This is not a message to diminish hard-earned accomplishments, to advocate lessening our support and celebration of each other, or to encourage you to hide the miraculous things God is doing in your lives. I truly believe in rejoicing with those who rejoice, and my heart would be deeply saddened if I could not celebrate the big moments of life with the ones I love. It’s about when we lean on our accomplishments so much that they become a mask we hide behind. It’s about being brave enough to share our whole story, and not just our highlight reel.

This beautiful friend of mine was honest and humble about where life had been taking her, and it was so refreshing. Her honesty broke down my walls and made me want to pour my heart out to her. There was something so safe and sacred about being trusted to see more than the surface. Her transparency and courage in laying down her ace cards made me want to lay mine down too.

[Tweet “Genuine honesty not only invites others into our lives, but also into our hearts.”] Genuine honesty invites others into the most sacred part of who God created us to be.

If anyone had a major ace card to use, it was Jesus. He miraculously raised people from the dead, fed thousands with a few fish and seven loaves of bread, healed lepers with a simple touch, calmed stormy seas with mere words, and so much more that even John wrote, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25 NIV).

However, Jesus did not shout his accomplishments from the rooftops. Instead, he was humble and honest everywhere he went, breaking down walls and going straight to people’s hearts.

I have given my ace cards their notice.

They are being retired.

Lord, I thank you for sending your Son as our perfect example for this life. May we all heed his example and retire our ace cards, our masks, and our fears of judgment. Instead, let us care more about people’s hearts than about trying to impress them. Amen.

Scripture for Reflection

“For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.”  (1 Thessalonians 2:3-4 NIV)

Reach for More

This week’s challenge is to fight the urge to use your ace cards. Make it a point to be honest and genuine in your conversations this week. If someone asks you how your day is going, pause, and then answer with intention rather than instinct. This will take a lot of vulnerability and courage, but the rewards will be worth it.

Dear friends, we can do this. Be courageous, and let’s be brave enough to be honest instead of impressive.

Please, come back and leave a comment telling us about how God spoke to you this week, or share your progress on social media using the hashtag #tgtreachformore. We would love to hear from you.

Sarah Lundgren has a passion for all things sparkly, loves God with her whole heart, and is known to love Starbucks chai lattes a whole lot, too. Sarah is currently snuggled in the heart of Grand Rapids, Michigan with her sweet hubby, J, and her full-time job is making pretty things all day long for her Etsy business, so sarah designs, but she also loves writing devotional content here at The Glorious Table.

Photograph © Bethany Beams, used with permission