God has created us as diverse people and called us very good.
And yes, we’re also sinners–but sin isn’t the state of being less than perfect, it’s the mistake of thinking we’re supposed to be. Sin is the fear and shame that fill us when empty promises of human perfection define how we understand ourselves and others. We may gaze on ourselves in self-adoration or self-loathing, but we’re stuck on ourselves either way.
We are not called to be perfect, but rather to be perfectly imperfect.
God’s grace doesn’t make us “perfect,” but it does make us complete. Grace frees us from the never-ending struggle to make ourselves good enough, reminding us that all we will ever need to be is who God has made us to be.
This message is an excerpt of “Faith reflection: Perfectly imperfect” by Meghan Johnston Aelabouni in the December 2018 issue of Cafe.
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