King David once asked, “Who is a man that you are mindful of him?” He could hardly believe that the omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God of the universe would love and care for someone as insignificant as him. How can this awesome God, King of kings, Lord of lords love me? The answer is worth repeating... LOVE! God is love and He loves you!
Tell yourself, “God loves me. Jesus loves me.” Repeat that phrase and soak in the implication of this great truth! God loves you; and it is not based on your performance but it is unilaterally given! God loves you as you are, with all the nicks and warts and all! So learn to embrace your imperfections. Be kind to yourself and then to others. Imperfections make you human. As long as you hide from who you really are, you cannot become who you were meant to be!
People see vulnerability as something that is uncomfortable, excruciating, and painful; yet without vulnerability, we will not initiate love, take a risk on worthwhile things, nor try new things in fear of failure. Vulnerability allows people to invest in relationships that may or may not work out. Vulnerability is fundamental to deep and intimate human relationships.
Most people try to numb out unpleasant feelings and emotions, but it is humanly impossible to selectively numb out negative emotions such as hurt, shame, grief, fear and disappointments without numbing out other emotions such as love, joy, happiness, and gratitude.
When Adam first saw Eve, he said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.” There was longing for him to have a deep human relationship, that he exclaims "at last!" I think in today's language, he may have said: “Eve, you are so beautiful. You were taken from my body but you are the part of me I love the most! I can’t believe God would do this for me!"
Can a man say anything more beautiful to a girl? But once sin fundamentally changed Adam from the inside out, he pointed his finger at Eve and referred to her as “that woman”. What a tragic change from his first loving words! There is distance, a chasm, in that statement. He says, “You are not a part of me. You are you and I am me. Get away from me because it’s your fault that we are in this mess .” Adam blamed Eve! Instead of confessing to God and being vulnerable, he blamed Eve! Instead of embracing his imperfections, he chose to cover up the mess by blaming Eve.
Friends, you are not perfect, so learn to embrace your imperfections. Accept Jesus, who has done for you what you could not do for yourself. He lived a perfect life, so take His perfection upon yourself by believing in Him. Live in His perfection. Soak in His love and live in it! His love is not based upon your behavior or performance; but His love is based solely upon His own love for you. Do you think the nails kept Jesus on the cross? No way! It was love!
Abandon yourself to His love, and share your life with others knowing that you are loved regardless of how people react to you. Through sharing our lives, by risking being known, we release the numbness that exists in our heart. Openly share, be vulnerable, open your heart's door to greater love and intimacy with yourself and others.
Stop pretending you have it all together. The more you pretend, the more you will feel miserable and lonely! The more you feel miserable and lonely, the more you pretend. It’s a never ending cycle. And in the midst of pretending, the evil one points his accusatory finger towards you and hisses, “You are not what you pretend to be. You are a fake. What if people found out about you. They will know that you are a mistake. You are no good. You are a _______."
Be grateful for vulnerability, because it means you are still alive. Believe that Jesus is enough and you don’t have to pretend like you have to be perfect. You’ll start listening instead of screaming. You’ll be kinder and gentler to the people around you, and especially to yourself.
I believe a relationship in Jesus is one in which you deliberately accept each other where you are -- imperfect, unfinished and mortal! As Leonard Cohen, a singer-songwriter, once said, “There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” Share your imperfections and let the light of Jesus shine through! Amen!
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