Impressed

Beauty and the Beast part VII:

Heaven's sakes! Is that a spot?
Clean it up, we want the company impressed

Boy, do we want to impress. We want to impress our peers so that we'll be popular. We want to impress our bosses so that we'll be promoted. We want to impress our parents so that they'll be proud. Our teachers so that we get 7 A's, our crushes so that they like us back. And so it goes on.  Our lives revolve around social media, the place where you put your best filtered foot forward and show off #livingyourbestlife.

In such a world, spots are not very welcome. Spots are hidden and avoided, covered and filtered away. Heaven forbid someone would see that we are not fully perfect, that we have bad days, that we make mistakes and have some flaws. We are being conditioned to hide our imperfections and it's creating a world with very high (albeit very fake) bar that is impossible to meet.

Let's change that. Let's not judge the spots we see on other people, and perhaps even harder to stop, let's not judge the spots in our own lives. Yes, let's identify the spots and weaknesses and work on improving and strengthening those things. But also, let's not pretend they don't exist. Let's not project a perfect life, but let's be open and honest while walking together with other flawed people, trusting that He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion.

It reminds me of some of the lyrics from a song by Rend Collective called Create In Me:

You're not finished with me yet
By Your power I can change, I can change
'Cause You're not finished with me yet

It's not over yet. This is not the end; it's not as good as it gets. Jesus is still at work, even when we can't see it. We will not see perfection this side of heaven. There is still work to be done and that is okay. But don't hide away. Be free and live, even in your imperfection. Fight that need to always impress, just do your best and trust God for the rest.