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| Only Human |
"Heroes became heroes, flaws and all gives us hope. “You mean I don’t have to be perfect to fulfill my Dream, to make a contribution?” Hardly, it takes commitment, courage, and passion to live a dream and make a contribution. Heroes had these qualities along with their flaws." (Peter McWilliams)
I think of the Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 12). He asked the Lord for the picture-perfect (permit my use of words), but the Lord said in his vulnerability (flaws and all) is His Strength made perfect. That is, He covers our nakedness. Imagine Adam and Eve in the garden trying to cover themselves with leaves. God said come out here folks. What are you trying to hide from me? I made you. There is nothing about you, or in you, I have not seen before, or know about. You should not be running from me, but rather running to me. I know what is best for you. God provided a covering for them.
"If you can learn to love yourself and all the flaws, you can love other people so much better. And, that makes you so happy." (Kristin Chenoweth)How so much we all labor to be someone other than who we truly are, "flaws and all." We are looking to be covered with leaves (strange clothing). There is none of us without flaws. And, there is nothing wrong with our flaws (birthmark, height, size, background, history, tendencies, failures, you name it, etc.). It differentiates us. It marks us out as candidates for grace and mercy. (1 Peter 5:5) It is a memory card for our journey so far, and possibly that to come. Unfortunately, we are all so easily tempted to think the neighbors garden is better than ours. Really? Maybe they are doing a better job of taking care of it. Or, maybe you are not seeing/feeling the blindspots/pinch-points, just because you are not wearing their shoes. The answer is not in exchanging gardens, or shoes for that matter. It is in cultivating our own garden. It is in knowing how to wear our own shoes well. Taking what is and making the best of it.
Flawsome: an individual who embraces their “flaws” and knows they are awesome regardless.
"God does not need your strength he has more than enough of power of His own. He asks your weakness: He has none of that himself, and He is longing therefore, to take your weakness, and use it as the instrument in His own mighty hand. Will you not yield your weaknesses to Him, and receive His strength." (Charles Spurgeon)
It is our story. It is our life. We are not going to have another. No matter how much running around we do. It's ours to make the best of. And, there are a host of witnesses depending on us to make it. Our “flaws and all” are our seed. What we do with it is what causes our greatness to shine. And, God is not going to do that for us. When we are done running around we will be back to the starting point, to pick that which has always been there, with us.
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