Beautifully Flawed

We are all alike in that we are all beautifully flawed. Since the fall of Adam and Eve, humans have changed. Most of us would not dream of going around naked, but Adam and Eve did so without even a thought. I would not even dare to go out in public most days without my makeup, because I almost feel “naked” without it! They lived in paradise and walked and talked freely with the God of the universe, unclothed and unashamed. They had nothing to hide or feel ashamed about…that is, until sin entered the world. Then, we became beautifully flawed.

We are born into sin and born wanting our own way…all the time! We don’t have to learn selfishness because we are born that way naturally. We have to learn to break away from what comes natural in order to become the beauty that God created us to be. It is a life-long struggle, in that none of us “gets all of it” overnight and wakes up one morning 100% flawless. However, God uses our flaws to teach us we need more of Him and others. He uses our flaws to help others see what they don’t want to be in their own lives and to show us how imperfect we are and that we must look at our own flaws before looking at the flaws of others.

Some of us are broken from life’s demands, mean/abusive people, illness, death, loss, deep financial stress, etc. However, God can use these things to make us beautiful to Him and others. We can walk alongside someone else going through the same things we went through because we too have been there. II Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in ALL our troubles, SO THAT we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” These things make us flawed, or as some people would negatively say “baggage,” but in reality they make us more beautiful, in a flawed sense of the word. If you look at a beautiful butterfly, for instance, and the color doesn’t look quite right or the wings are a little off centered, we would not say it is ugly but rather that it is beautiful, but has a slight flaw. I think that God looks at each one of us the same way.

This is not to say we should maximize our flaws by any means! Actually, we need to try to become more like Christ and we should grow in such a way that we sin less and less (become less flawed) as the months and years go by. If you are still struggling with all the same things year after year, you are just flawed. But, when you allow God to use your flaws to help you grow and help others grow, you are beautifully flawed.

Case in point. I absolutely love people and have always had a big heart towards them. I lived to please people for many years. This was because of the very abusive home I grew up in and the bullying I had to endure while going through school too. I wanted people to love me or even like me so much that I would let them treat me however they wanted to, even if it wasn’t right. I let people use me as a doormat for years and never stood up for myself because I wanted everyone to like me, no matter what the cost. Flaw? Yes. However, this was a beautiful flaw in one way, in that I had a big heart for people and loved them unconditionally; however, it was a bad flaw in that I never took up for myself either.

Over the years, I gradually learned how to stand up to people when they were taking advantage of me or being inconsiderate or just plain mean and through this process, I learned to love myself more and saw myself as more deserving than to be a free doormat to whomever wanted one. There is nothing wrong with loving people and wanting to be loved in return and to just want to fit in. However, it crosses the line when letting others treat you like you mean little to nothing just to gain their “approval.” As I gained more self-respect, acceptance and love for myself, I was able to put my foot down when the need arose and said, “I will not let you treat me that way.” Of course, there are times to show grace too, but sometimes you need to firmly let people know that you will not be treated a certain way because you refuse to let yourself be treated that way.

Thank God he did not leave me flawed, but changed me into beautifully flawed. Thank God that he helped me see myself through his eyes and that I have the strength and heart to still love others but to love myself in healthy way too. I have come a long way, from being a person who loved others so much but hated myself even more (I grew up thinking I was a big mistake).  Gradually, I grew into a person who accepted herself, beautifully flawed, then liked herself and thinking “yeah, I am a pretty cool cookie,” to loving myself as Christ loves me, beautifully flawed. <3