“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,.”—Matthew 5:3
GOD LOVES you anyway.
I found these words in a colorful sticker in the jeepney bumper. It may sound funny but, for me, those four words sum up my Christian faith.
Now, before your eyes widen and your eyebrows reach high heavens, let me first clear my side through a story I read in a reader’s digest.
Once, there was perfectly-shaped circle that rolled swiftly through the fields, leaving everything in its path awe-struck. The insects and plants could only admire its splendor because the circle never stopped its rapid motion.
One day, while it rolled in the woods, the circle lost a piece of itself. This disabled the snobbish creature.
As it rolled slowly in the field, the circle met the insects and plants and was able to appreciate the beauty of the surroundings. At once, the majestic mountains, the friendly trees, and the cheerful flowers became a part of the slow-rolling circle’s world.
As it sluggishly rolled down the mountainside, the circle unexpectedly found its missing piece. Thrilled and ecstatic, it fitted the missing part and quickly rolled again.
It rolled for a couple of hours before finally stopping. Then, it threw a piece of itself once again and went on rolling slowly.
Most of us, if not all, are victims of the same conviction: that we need to be perfect or, at least, to have some degree of perfection for us to deserve love. We think that people love us more if we are more ideal or perfect.
The quest for self-perfection can be self-defeating. The circle found this out, so that it was not happy when it found its missing piece again. So, it threw a part of itself away and became content in rolling slowly, in which it was able to appreciate the true beauty of the things and creatures around it. In the case of the circle, perfection, completeness and, being able to spin freely did not guarantee the happiness it was longing for. Instead, it found the “wholeness” it was looking for in being incomplete and imperfect.
Sometimes, we are like circles that strive for perfection. We aim to be the best since we think that being on top would breed appreciation and acceptance from the people around us. But much like the circle, we would soon find no satisfaction in our ideal perfection since we would be left alone and detached from the people around us.
Whoever you are or whatever you did, God loves you. He only punishes us because of our sins. The sins are condemned, but never the sinner. You don’t need to be the perfect Christian to be a true child of God. All you need to do is be yourself, the imperfect human who is constantly striving to follow Him.
Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for always understanding us whenever we show all our blemishes and imperfections. Help us, though imperfect we are, in our aim to follow Your path. All this we ask through Your son our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
