You’re such a good person. You’re never mean to anyone. You have a perfect life.
Each of these phrases has been said to me one time or another, mostly in high school. However during those years I was the angriest, the most self-damaging, and the most imperfect I had ever been. Outward appearances are misleading, aren’t they? The most shocking of those phrases was that my life was perfect. What does that word “perfect” even mean? Without fault? Without pain? Without problems? But I had all of those things, so why were people viewing me that way?
Whenever someone said this to me, all I could ever say was that no, my life was so less than perfect. Yet even I knew that my words weren’t convincing anyone. I think so many non-Christians view Christianity as a religion seeking perfection. They see that Christians strive to keep away from sin and temptations, but they don’t see the love involved in this process. As Christians we should strive to live by Christ’s example not because some rules say so, but because we love Christ and want to please Him.
None of us are perfect and that’s exactly why we have to seek out a perfect God. I think the reason people viewed me as perfect was because I was careful to never reveal what I was feeling. If I was sad, I pushed past it while I was at school. Had I not been so guarded, perhaps I could have related to more people. As Christians, we need to be transparent, reflecting our heart and staying consistent in all parts of our lives.
Read John 11:33-35 and 14:9. Reflect on what this says about being transparent.
Jesus, son of God wept. Jesus reflected his transparency through his open emotions. When expressing moments of sadness, those around us are able to see our pain and our troubles. In John 14:9, Phillip is told that he can see God through Jesus, that all that Jesus is and does is through God. As Christians we need to be so transparent that when others see us, they see God.
Please read Philippians 1:9-10: “It is my prayer that your love may be more and more accompanied by clear knowledge and keen perception, for testing things that differ, so that you may be men of transparent character, and may be blameless, in preparation for the day of Christ.”
Watch the following video and reflect on how transparent your faith is.
End in the following prayer or with your own.
Dear God, I am not perfect and I know that I have disappointed You many times. But God, I pray that You allow me to learn from those experiences and allow me to find strength as I seek Your light. Help me be transparent. Let those around me see that I am an imperfect being, serving a perfect God. Never let me forget my purpose, being a light. Amen.
Nice reflection, I love these scriptures selected here. I had a similar situation with a friend and I remember saying to her "we have been friends for three years and you still don't know me." I said that with some pain and disappointment. When misunderstood we feel the loneliness of our existence. We have been vulnerable and suddenly we realize the other didn't get it or took you for granted. Or when someone rejects you because you don't fit the you they wanted you to be or love and accept you for all your giftedness and imperfections. You realize then that they were relating to you as some kind of cartoon character of you they created -- again the pain of loneliness and rejection. But Jesus didn't let himself stay there in that -- he reached out again; wanted others to try to see the real Jesus again and again. That encourages me not to move in to an isolating mode but to risk again - with the same person that hurt.
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