Photo by Antonio Araujo on Unsplash
Yes! I pressed the “like” button on my previous post to “like” my post! Now, before you throw rotten tomatoes at me and throw me off the internet, watching me spiral away like a free-floating astronaut, hear me out! We agree that we are ALL (sort of – not REALLY me*, but I have to say it for humility’s sake) losers, right? (If not, see HERE).
But being a loser, if displayed with enough gusto, can ACTUALLY become part of our superpower! Let me explain. That loser-ness contributes to our awesomeness because we know who we are so that we can relax!
We no longer have to spew boasts describing ever so covertly our successes in attempts to impress people.
And this is freedom.
Maybe we didn’t find gold stars all over ourselves when we dressed this morning. Or perhaps our stars have rusted and fallen off. (Does NO ONE care anymore that they voted ME one of the best dressed in my red-necked high school? It was a BIG THING back then. I’m just saying.)
Photo by Mesh on Unsplash
I guess no one cares anymore.
But that proves my point!
We can, in our best redneck attire, STILL pat others on the shoulder with love to encourage them, even though we sometimes (in theory, and I speak of OTHERS MOSTLY here), have a big “L” on our forehead for “loser”.
And we can “like” ourselves too because we are just little bundles of love dressed up in whatever old rags we could find as we wandered through life.
And love is enough!
So, if you don’t have any gold stars that our culture handed out, or if you were late for the lineup for these accolades, don’t worry!
The stars wouldn’t stick to our old rags anyway.
If we find we have stars, tearing them off is still the way to true freedom. Because in the dark of night, just before we fall asleep, more often than you’d like to admit, friend, your esoteric anxiety startles you for a moment with, “What AM I doing on planet Earth??” (It happens to the best of us! Even the wisest of us are SOMETIMES confused!) In those moments, our gold stars earned in high school or passed out to us last week don’t satisfy us. We know this stuff, but saying it aloud helps us understand who we are. You’re welcome.
And now that you know your true state (You can take the “L” off your forehead now), we can all stand together and hold hands.
And what’s next?
Let’s stand here in a circle and … sing. Yes, sing.
We praise the one who IS the standard of the world’s excellence. We wonder at Jesus (He’s the guy 1/3 of the people on the planet claim to follow – Know him?) and find that as we gaze at the One who is genuinely excellent, he gives us new clothing, too. We can throw away our old torn redneck outfits and other cultural achievements because he has new clothes for us – the stuff princes and princesses wear when we become children of the King, his dad – God.
The point is that He is pleased with us.
And so you should be, too.
So you can “like” yourself!
You can even “like” your own posts.
Whenever, though, [we] turn to face God . . . we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.
God, help us to see ourselves the way You see us, both in our true brokenness before we turn to You and in our glorious attire as we fix our eyes on Your beauty. Help us to “like” who we are becoming by Your grace, we pray. As the song below plays, take some deep breaths and then ask God in the quiet of your soul: How do You see me?
If you knew who God made you to be, you’d never want to be anyone else.
Pastor Bill Johnson
Footnotes
*(My editor said I should write that part about me being a loser, too, so that you feel there is someone you can relate to.)
You’re welcome!
Good luck!
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