Heading into the Live Original Conference, I was honestly a little bummed.

I’m an LO Ambassador, and I’d been so excited for the weekend! But as conference got closer, I realized some of the girls I’m closest to weren’t going to be there. Then, right before the weekend, the friend I was supposed to share a hotel room with had to cancel. It was for a good reason, and I completely understood. But still, it meant I was heading into the weekend by myself. And I think that made what God showed me over the next few days even sweeter.

Live Original has always painted the picture of being a good sister and friend. So even though the theme of this year’s conference was A Thrill of Hope, I found myself thinking about that original vision in a new way: What’s the thrill of friendship? What does it actually look like to be a good sister and a good friend?

For me, one answer kept showing up repeatedly: honesty.

Friendship Gets Deeper When We Get Honest.

Not long after I arrived at conference, I met another ambassador. We hadn’t known each other long at all, perhaps an hour or two, but as I started asking questions and getting to know her, she was remarkably honest with me.

She didn’t give me the polished version of her life. Instead, she opened up about some of the things that were genuinely challenging and disheartening. Within minutes of meeting, I knew parts of her story that would’ve been much easier to keep hidden.

And almost instantly, I felt closer to her. We were friends.

Later, during one of the messages, there was an opportunity for people to identify if they wanted prayer, and my new friend did. Because she’d already been honest with me, I knew exactly what to pray for.

Rewind the clock—If she hadn’t initially been that honest, I still would’ve been kind to her. We still would’ve talked. We certainly would’ve still had fun, and I absolutely would still have prayed for her. But I couldn’t have prayed for her in the same way, because I wouldn’t have known what was really going on.

That’s one of the risks of pretending that we’re fine. People might like us, but we don’t actually let them love the real us—the sinful us.

James 5:16 says, “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” And there’s something powerful about that order: Confession. Prayer. Healing.

God designed us to be honest with him and with one another. We weren’t meant to carry everything alone . . . even our sin.

Honesty Takes Faith.

Sadie modeled this well! She taught from 1 Kings 17 and 18 and talked about how easy it is for us to become numb to waiting. We live in a world where we can get almost anything instantly. We want an answer, so we Google it. We’re bored, so we scroll. We don’t know something, or we don’t want to take the time to do something, so we ask AI.

We’ve gotten comfortable with immediate answers. That’s probably why we’ve also lost some of the thrill of hope. But Sadie made a point that stuck with me: when you already know the outcome, there’s no need for faith.

Ouch.

And yes, she definitely read my mail when she started talking about ChatGPT. But what I loved most was that she didn’t teach the point from a distance. She confessed that she was still wrestling with it too. She even shared that when she told Christian about her message, he challenged her; because she hadn’t deleted ChatGPT herself.

Sadie could’ve left that part out.

It would’ve made her seem more like the subject matter expert. Might’ve made her look more put together.

But instead, she told the truth!

I was so proud of her, because honesty doesn’t mean we only tell people about the struggles we’ve already conquered. Sometimes honesty sounds like, “God is teaching me this right now, and I’m still learning how to live it out.” That kind of honesty makes me trust someone more, not less.

Proverbs 12:22 says, “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.” God delightsin truth. He isn’t asking us to create a version of ourselves that looks impressive to everyone else. He wants us to walk faithfully with him, even when that means admitting we don’t have it all together.

You Can Be Grateful and Still Be Struggling.

I saw the same thing when Makayla and Lulu shared. Makayla was honest about where she was emotionally. She talked about how even that very day, the day she was speaking onstage at the Live Original Conference, life was still hard.

That really struck me.

From the outside, it’d be easy to look at her life and think, “Look at everything God is doing!” She’s onstage. She’s sharing her story. She’s influencing people. She’s backstage with leaders we all look up to. She gets to wear the cute outfit and be part of this amazing weekend.

And yet, she was able to stand there and say, essentially, “Yes, I’m grateful to be here. And yes, life is still hard.” Both can be true.

I think sometimes we incorrectly assume honesty means we’re ungrateful. Or that honesty means were immature. Or we think that if God is doing something good, we aren’t allowed to acknowledge what isn’t.

But Scripture never asks us to fake it.

The Psalms are full of people telling God exactly how they feel. They’re afraid. Confused. Angry. Lonely. Hopeful. Grateful. Sometimes all those emotions within just a few verses.

God can handle our honesty. And good friends give us space to practice it.

Be the Kind of Sister Who Tells the Truth.

By the end of the weekend, I realized God had answered my disappointment about coming alone in a way I didn’t expect. I walked into conference wishing some of my closest friends were there. But I walked away better understanding how God orchestrates friendship in the first place.

Friendship isn’t solely built by spending a lot of time together. It isn’t solely built by having the same interests, taking cute pictures, or by being in the same group chat. Real sisterhood requires truth. There’s a risk that comes with being honest, especially with someone new. You don’t know exactly how they’ll respond. You don’t know if the friendship will last beyond the weekend. But we also don’t know what God might do with the conversation. We must give up the control we think we have, step into the unknown, and trust God to provide the friends we need.

Maybe that’s an example of the thrill Sadie talked about. We don’t have to know exactly how God is going to provide before we trust that he will. Sometimes, we get to walk into a conference alone, sit next to someone we don’t know, tell the truth about our lives, and wait to see what God does next. Real sisterhood requires honesty with believing sisters.

Colossians 3:9 tells us, “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.”

Following Jesus should make us people who tell the truth. (Which includes telling the truth about ourselves.) Consider asking yourself a few honest questions:

• Do the girls closest to me genuinely know how I’m doing?
• When someone asks how I am, do I always say “good” because it’s easier?
• Do I let people know what I specifically need prayer for? Or keep it general?
• Am I willing to admit when I’m struggling with the very thing I’m encouraging someone else to do?
• Am I growing as the kind of friend who makes it safe for someone else to be honest?

This kind of honesty doesn’t mean everyone needs access to every part of our story. Wisdom matters. But we all need a few people who know what’s really going on. People who know what we’re celebrating and what we’re grieving. People who know where we’re strong and where we’re struggling. People who know how to pray for us because we’ve actuallytold them the truth.

I came into conference a little disappointed that I was going by myself. But I left reminded that sometimes God uses an unexpected seat, a new friend, an honest confession, or a vulnerable moment from the stage to show us what sisterhood really looks like.

A good sister doesn’t have to have everything together.

A good sister doesn’t have to have all the answers.

But a good sister tells the truth.

And that’s the kind of sister and friend I want to be.