Episode 145 - Imperfect

 There was a time in my life when I was completely undamaged. Physically I mean. There was a time when I didn't have any scratches or scars, just baby soft smooth skin. Or at least so I'm told,I can't say that I remember it, it certainly didn't last very long. As I got older and started exploring the world I picked up cuts and bruises. And as traumatic as they may (or may not) have been for me, at first I think it was much worse for my mum. With each new mark on my skin her wonderful little baby was getting spoilt by the world around him, maybe in someway becoming a little less perfect. Now of course, she loved me no less, nor thought any less of me for it, but you can understand the concept. I think we often view things in this life in such a way, that anything which damages something spoils it in some way and permanently in a way which can never be completely recovered. My body is now covered in scars from my misadventures.

 

Truthfully, I have a tendency to think about myself in that way. Whenever I fall short of who I'd like to be, whenever I err from  an ethical stance I hold or fail to embody the principles I choose to live by, I feel I've broken myself, not only failing to be who I want in that moment, but somehow preventing myself from ever now becoming everything I could have been, limiting my future and permanently scarring myself because that failure would forever be with me, written in stone in my history.

 

I also have a tendency to think about my relationships (with everyone, not just girls) in this way too. That when one of us makes a mistake and there's a break in trust or a loss of closeness, then forgiveness comes easily but in some way it feels like the relationship will no longer be perfect like it once was. It was actually thinking about relationships like this that made me realise how wrong this general philosophy of historical imperfection was, because what I have witnessed can remarkably be quite the opposite. Though I have only witnessed a few relationships which have suffered serious damage to them and truly come out the other side, those that have, have somehow become stronger, closer and more robust.

 

It seems that something almost magical happens during this process. It's not the break in trust which leaves the lasting mark, but the forgiveness. It seems that there is no damage which can stand against the irresistible strength of undeserved love. Such love has the power not only to repair relationships but also transform them into something new and to transform both people too should they be willing to let it. The power of this undeserved love is never more evident than in God's love for us revealed in Jesus's death which bought our forgiveness when we couldn't earn it. So not only can damaged relationships be restored to something better than before, but so too can I through God's grace not only be redeemed from my failings but even brought into something better.