Do not think too highly...or too lowly...of yourself. No matter how broken you are--and we are ALL broken--you are loved and valued by Christ. These ideas struck me during today's sermon on the book of Romans, and I connected them with my recent attempts to reconcile our world's views on self-image and value.
I wish more people could manage to love and value each other *despite* our brokenness. Instead, some people act like their own value is increased by finding or judging others' faults, while some act like love means never acknowledging the faults of those around us. But I think we need to be willing to see those faults--in our friends, family members, employees, students, and ourselves--and then we need to help them see how very loved they still are *despite* those shortcomings. This is how we build trust as a unified body and how we inspire growth as a source of encouragement.
I don't want friends, family, employers, students, dancers who ignore my faults. And I don't want friends, family, employers, students, dancers who judge me for my faults. I want people who see my shortcomings AND my value; I want people choose to love me as deeply as they know me. And I want them to know I will do the same.
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