WYSIWYG (wi-zee-wig)

I love this acronym; WYSIWYG. It simply means what you see is what you get. I'm sure you've either used the phrase or heard the phrase used at one time or another. It's actually used in the information systems world by hackers or developers and it refers to software which they are unable to modify for specific purposes not designed for in the original software. Basically, you can't modify the software for anything other than what it was created for.

When I've used this phrase in the past, it was an attempt to communicate that I am transparent or natural. I'm not hiding behind a mask or fake. I'm not pretending to be something or have a hidden agenda. I've even said it feeling a bit self-righteous as I say it. It's got a little attitude.

The truth of the matter, however, is that we all have a "presentation" model of ourselves. When I was growing up you never went to church unless you were in the best clothes you owned. I had school shoes, church shoes, and play shoes. I heard phrases like "we don't act like that in public". Then there were all kinds of rules about when you go on a date, when you look for a job, and when you stay over at so-and-so's house don't talk about.......you fill in the blank.

Now don't get me wrong, I think there are protocols and expectations that we conduct ourselves differently in various situations. There are even occasions and places we go where we should be wearing the correct attire. Things such as weddings, funerals, church and work. There are things that you should not talk about or say depending on where you are and who you are with.

What I am talking about here is the core person you are. If you try to be one way at work to fit in there, then you try to be another way at church and then be someone else at home, you're going to drive yourself crazy! You cannot be happy and fulfilled.

James 3:10-18 from the Message version of the Bible puts it like this:

^10-12My friends, this can't go on. A spring doesn't gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don't bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don't bear apples, do they? You're not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?

^13-16Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here's what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It's the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn't wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn't wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn't wisdom. It's the furthest thing from wisdom—it's animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you're trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others' throats.

^17-18Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

If you are true blue, authentic and consistent, you won't have to respond to anyone in any place "What you see is what you get!" No you won't. Because others will recognize that about you. It's part of the package. Your daily conduct will demonstrate your authenticity.

Sure you'll conduct yourself differently depending on whose company you are in or how comfortable you are in a situation. But you will never change your core values. You won't cuss when you're at work and not cuss when you are home. You won't treat men at work like dirt bags and then treat your husband nicely at home. Oh, you may manage for a while, but you'll blow up eventually.

WYSIWYG should be more than just a phrase you toss over your shoulder in an attitude of "in your face bubba". WYSIWYG should be a way of living, as the Scriptures above describe, "a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others." If you're having trouble with your life perhaps you need to stop trying to change who you are.

Stop trying to hack or modify the programming.

Be the unique and special person God created you to be!