Getting Real
Posted: 9/25/2019
So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. (2 Corinthians 12:7-9)
Being real and transparent doesn’t come easily to most of us. It’s easier to hide behind perfectionism, performance, and persona. There’s no cost involved, no shame to endure. But there is also no fruit produced. The only way you and I can grow to become like Christ is to accept our weaknesses so the strength of Christ can be seen.
The truth is, I’m a mess. Though I am cleansed by the grace of God, my old human nature still reveals itself in my thoughts, words, and actions. But I have hope, and His name is Jesus. Like Paul, I sometimes do what I don’t want to do and don’t do what I do want to do. And like Paul, I say, “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:15, 25). He loves us in spite of who we are.
God can be trusted to open his arms each time we mess up. Like the prodigal son, running back for mercy and grace, we have hope in Jesus who reaches down and lifts us up—the way he did the prostitute, the tax collector, and the Samaritan. He looks past who we are and only at who we can become.
I want to be like Jesus—loving, forgiving, and merciful. I want to be real and open and transparent. And I want others to see Christ in me. The good news is God loves to make miracles out of messes, to bring beauty out of ashes. I need to trust Him for the transformation.
A Pharisee and a tax collector went to pray (Luke 18:9-14). The Pharisee proudly boasted about his good works and thanked God that he was not like the sinful tax collector. But the tax collector could not even look up to heaven; he could only pray that God would have mercy on him. Jesus said the tax collector went away justified before God. Let’s not try to be like a Pharisee—appear to be someone we’re not. Let’s be honest about who we are and let Jesus lift us up.
No more faking it. I want to accept my sinful self but trust Christ for the process. For I know progress only comes from total dependence on the grace of God. When we live that way, his strength is not only made perfect in our weakness, but our transformed mess becomes His message of mercy.
Heavenly Father, Help me to accept that I was not meant to be perfect but perfectly acceptable in You. Amen.
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