Offense / Defense

I hope you don’t mind if I get a bit sporty. There’s an adage that says, sometimes the best defense is a strong offense. This can be true in well defined games.

Regrettably this saying is frequently how we conduct our interactions with each other. We’re far too often quick to pick up an offense which causes us to get defensive and many times even offensive. To stave off getting wounded we wound, to avoid a no, we manipulate and to keep people from getting to close, we pretend.

What if we could love our offenders so much they couldn’t hurt us? What if we knew for certain how special we are to God that we never had to be on the defensive? What if we were so honest about our flaws to people that their love for us grew deep? I know this is possible for us, it sounds very much like Jesus. It also sounds a whole lot like the people I know that spend a bunch of time with Him.

This Day

Lord give me the courage to recognize my flaws and the wisdom to know that your love for me is not in spite of them but includes them. Give me the heart to understand the shortcomings of others and the ability to love them like you do. Use me to share your love with those I see today and help stand as proof against the evidence that they are unloved.

Yes, you’re better

This one touches on the same topic as yesterday, comparison. Maybe at times we use comparison as an excuse to keep our distance from God but as we said before this isn’t coming from Him. He wants us to be different. He wants us to celebrate our uniqueness. Unfortunately we fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to others as a means of finding our worth. We look for the flaws in those around us in order to make ourselves feel better about our own. The good news is that’s not how God looks at us at all. He sees all of the good in us and isn’t afraid of the things that aren’t there yet. He thinks the very best of us at all times without comparison. So instead of saying Yes, you’re better. He saying, ” You’re so special, just the way I made you, you’re completely one of a kind and I couldn’t love you more. Find your worth in Me and stop looking for it elsewhere.”

Weakness

God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness. When we humbly give our weakness to Him it transforms us into people with compassion for others. When we are aware of our shortcomings it frees us to see beyond the faults of those around us. It’s common for us to try to hide our weakness by amplifying the flaws of others, which only closes us off from God and the people He wants us to love. But people not afraid to share their weaknesses are a demonstration of His power.

I Got This

I got this is a pretty silly thing to say to the God of the universe. When someone far more qualified than ourselves offers to help, isn’t the smart thing to say, “absolutely”? Yet far too much of our life is kept from God. We each have weaknesses, flaws and wounds that we don’t trust Him to handle. We try to hide them from others, pretend they aren’t there and deal with them only when they become obvious. If we will trust Him, He’ll make our weakness strength, our flaws beautiful and use our wounds to help others heal.