Latest / UNMASKED with Wesley Farnsworth / EP 53 - Breaking Free: The Power of Brotherhood

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EP 53 - Breaking Free: The Power of Brotherhood · UNMASKED with Wesley Farnsworth

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  Most people don't struggle because they're weak.
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  They struggle because they're alone.
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  Not physically alone necessarily, but relationally
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  alone. They have people in their life,
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  they have conversations, they have friendships, they have a
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  community in the general sense. But when it comes to what's
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  really going on inside them, when it comes to the things that
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  they're actually carrying, when it comes to the battles that
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  they're quietly fighting, they're all alone.
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  And here's the truth. Service level connection will
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  never produce deep level freedom.
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  You can be surrounded by people and still feel completely
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  isolated. You can have friendships and
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  still not be known. You can show up week after week
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  and still be carrying everything by yourself because not all
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  relationships are built the same.
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  And today we're going to talk about the kind of relationships
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  that actually change your life. The kind that breaks isolation,
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  the kind that creates strength, the kind that leads to freedom.
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  Today we're talking about the power of brotherhood.
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  Welcome to Unmasked, where we take off the filters and get
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  real about faith, failure, and finding freedom.
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  I'm your host, Wesley Farnsworth, and this episode is
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  episode 3 of our miniseries Breaking Free.
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  In episode 1, we talked about the lie of self-reliance.
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  In episode 2, we talked about the cost of isolation, and today
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  we're talking about what comes next.
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  Because stepping out of isolation is one thing, but
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  building the right relationships, that is where the
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  real change begins. So today we're talking about
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  brotherhood, not casual friendships and not service
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  level connection, but the kind of relationship that actually
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  strengthens you, sharpens you, and helps you to live
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  differently. So pull up a chair, take a deep
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  breath, and let's jump in. This is unmasked.
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  Most people never experience relationships like this because
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  here's the reality. They have friends.
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  They have people that they laugh with, that they spend time with,
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  that they talk about life in general with, but they don't
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  have people who truly know them. They don't have people who see
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  past the surface. They don't have people who are
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  close enough to challenge them. And part of the reason is
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  because this kind of relationships requires something
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  that most people avoid. And that, my friends, is
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  vulnerability. You see, real brotherhood
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  doesn't happen accidentally. It doesn't happen through
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  proximity alone either. It happens through honesty.
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  And honesty is uncomfortable because honesty requires you to
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  let people see what's actually going on.
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  Not the polished version, not the edited version, the real
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  version. And that is why most people
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  hesitate, because they have a fear of being known.
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  It feels risky because once someone knows you, you lose
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  control. You can't manage the narrative
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  anymore. You can't present the version of
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  yourself that feels the safest. You are exposed and that
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  exposure brings fear. I can speak to that first hand.
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  And with that fear comes many different thoughts.
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  You begin to think things like what if they see me differently?
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  What if they lose respect for me?
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  What if they don't understand? What if they pull away?
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  Those questions are ones that keep people stuck in surface
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  level relationships. They keep conversations safe,
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  they keep struggles hidden, and as a result, they keep people
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  isolated even in the middle of a community.
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  Now here's something that I want you to understand.
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  There is a difference though between friendship and
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  brotherhood because not all relationships are built to carry
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  weight. Friendship is good and
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  friendship is important. I'm not saying it's not, but
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  brotherhood is different. Friendship is built on shared
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  interests. Brotherhood is built on shared
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  honesty. Friendship is where you connect.
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  Brotherhood is where you grow. Friendship is where you enjoy
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  life. Brotherhood is where you face
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  life. In brotherhood, you don't just
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  talk about what's easy, you talk about what's real.
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  You don't just encourage each other, you challenge each other.
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  You don't just show up when it's convenient, you show up when
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  it's necessary. That kind of relationship is
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  rare, but when you find it, it is powerful.
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  When you have the right person in your life, everything shifts.
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  You begin to think clearer, you see things differently.
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  You don't stay stuck in your own head because there's somebody
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  else speaking truth into your life.
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  Galatians 62 says to carry each other's burdens.
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  That only happens when people actually know what you're
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  carrying. And when they do, something
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  changes. The weight is no longer yours
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  alone. You are no longer trying to
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  figure everything out by yourself.
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  You are no longer isolated. You're supported, you're
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  challenged. You're reminded of truth when
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  your thinking starts to drift, and that changes the direction
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  of your life. See, one of the most important,
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  and I think probably most overlooked parts of brotherhood
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  is accountability. Not control or judgment, but
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  accountability. The accountability isn't someone
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  telling you what to do. It's someone close enough to
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  your life to notice when you're not doing what you said you
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  would do. It's someone willing to ask you
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  the hard questions, someone willing to speak truth to you
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  even when it's uncomfortable, and most importantly, someone
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  who cares more about your growth than your comfort.
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  That kind of accountability protects you because left on
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  your own, it's very easy to drift.
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  It's easy to justify things, it's easy to fall back into
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  patterns. But when somebody is walking
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  with you and you have that accountability, that drift gets
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  interrupted and the interruption creates change.
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  So why do people avoid it? It's a question a lot of people
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  ask, so let's talk about it. You see, even in brotherhood,
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  there's challenges. Brotherhood is powerful, but
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  people still avoid it because they don't like the
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  accountability. It requires effort, it requires
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  intention, it requires vulnerability.
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  And men, let's admit it, most of us, we don't like vulnerability
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  even with ourselves, because we have to open up.
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  We have to be honest. We have to risk being seen.
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  And for people who have been hurt before, that is not easy.
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  It's easier to just stay at the surface.
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  It's easier to keep things light.
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  It's easier to avoid discomfort. To avoid discomfort also means
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  avoiding growth. And over time, that choice keeps
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  you stuck. It's important that you build
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  the right relationships. Because brotherhood doesn't just
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  happen. You have to build it, and that
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  starts with choosing the right people.
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  Not just people who are fun to be around, but people who are
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  willing to be honest with you. People who have growth and value
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  growth. People who are pursuing
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  something deeper than just comfort.
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  And once those people are in your life, you have to go first.
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  You have to be the one that opens up, the one who takes the
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  risk, the one who sets the tone, because honesty creates honesty
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  and vulnerability creates connection.
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  So what does this look like practically?
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  This does not have to be something that's complicated.
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  It might look like meeting regularly with one or two
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  people. It might look like having real
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  conversations instead of surface level ones.
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  It might look like asking better questions.
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  How are you really doing? What's been weighing on you?
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  What are you struggling with right now?
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  And then being willing to answer those same questions in return.
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  Honestly. See, that's where brotherhood
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  starts. Not with a program, not with a
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  plan, but with honesty. So let me ask you something.
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  Do you have people in your life who really know you?
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  Not just your schedule, not just your surface level life, but
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  what's actually going on inside of you?
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  And if not, what's holding you back?
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  Is it fear? Is it a past hurt?
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  Is it the belief that you should be able to handle things on your
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  own? If it is, I want you to think
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  about that for a moment. Because if you want freedom, you
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  have to push past those fears and realize that you can't do it
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  alone. Next time on Unmasked, we're
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  going to be closing out the series by talking about building
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  a life of freedom. Because freedom is not a one
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  time commitment. It's something that you build,
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  something that you protect, something that you live in
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  daily. If this episode challenged you
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  or somebody came to mind while you were listening to it, do me
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  a favor. Share it with somebody.
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  Share it with that person. Because you never know whose
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  healing might begin with just a simple share.
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  And remember this, the right people in your life don't just
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  support you, they strengthen you.
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  And freedom grows where honesty and brotherhood exist because
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  you're choosing to live unmasked.
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  God bless you.