Whilst driving with my wonderful wife we began talking on character traits and who we desire to be. In short, you missed a great discussion. I semi longer-ish, let me attempt to be what I desire to be.
I am flawed. I am a sinner. I am far from being what I need to be as a Christian. But you know what? People think I am great. People think I’ve got it all together. (Or maybe I am wrong all together). I am in fact far from being great and having it all together, furthermore, I hope I never am great or have it all together, lest I may boast of myself and not of His grace.
What my point is, is that, as a character traits I desire honesty, integrity, love, and vulnerability.
Vulnerability is what I am working on thinking through at this point, and I will in the future examine the other traits, but do understand, these traits work much better as a team than they do on their own.
So what does it mean to be vulnerable? I’m not entirely sure of the definition of what it means to be vulnerable, but I would imagine that it would look something like just as quickly as showing our strengths, we could show our weaknesses. And that is what I am becoming more comfortable with.
My weakness, I told my wife, is allowing me to be much stronger than the artificial strength that sadly so many portray. As a young(er) man, a teenager, I struggled with the thoughts that I was the only struggling one. It appeared to me that others that surrounded me never had any issues or problems. I would condemn myself for feeling or thinking the ways I often did. I spent critical years living with condemnation, some of it justifiably so one may argue. Years have passed and I still I am realizing what I knew all along. I am indeed a flawed, a sinner, and far from what I need to be as a Christian. BUT, I am closer to being what I need to be as a Christian by realizing its not what I do or how I act or how I feel that makes me a great Christian, lest I may boast, but the grace and mercy of Jesus who is teaching me and flourishing the spiritual gifts within me to allow me to be weak in order that He may be strong. So, I choose to be vulnerable. If you are also human, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you will struggle, and fail, and not be who you ought to be. But, through His mercy, and our willingness to be broken, vulnerable, and weak, He will give us strength. He will clothe our actions and lives, with love, mercy, generosity, service, sacrifice, and humnility.
If you are reading this and you are fearful of your own flaws, do no worry. It is going to be okay. I suggest you talk with someone who will allow you to be vulnerable and love you and count you as a friend despite your flaws. There are others who will care, listen, and love you. I would strongly suggest you spend some time talking with the one man that helps me the most. He will take time to listen to you. He will acknowledge you may have flaws, but He will help you work through them by His grace. Go ahead, ask Him.
"He will clothe our actions and lives, with love, mercy, generosity, service, sacrifice, and humnility. "
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely.
I've spoken with so many people in our generation who is thinking along the same lines; you're not alone. I'm working on a post about vulnerability as well as I've found myself at the crux of a personal revival.
Keep it up, my brother. The world needs to see Jesus.
This post is so awesome Nic!
ReplyDeleteSo many thoughts running through my head right now...
I think it is important for us to own up to our humanity and stop portraying that we need to be perfect. It would be dishonest to think perfection is attainable. But to be vulnerable and honest with ourselves, those around us and most importantly God, will truly be our source of strength.
Everyone needs to read this post.
Great post, keep it up!
"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed."
ReplyDeleteSo many things came through my mind while reading this. The reason for that is that when on hears truth, it resonates and echoes back through all of the distant reaches of their experiences.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading:
"I am in fact far from being great and having it all together, furthermore, I hope I never am great or have it all together, lest I may boast of myself and not of His grace."
Proverbs 30:7-9 came to mind.
“Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, "Who is the Lord?" or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.”
The mention of falsehood and lying also ties into the subject of vulnerability. To be vulnerable is to go back and undo the instinctive behaviour of instantly hiding ones sin/flaws that Adam and Eve first exhibited. At the realization of their error, they went so far as to hide their physical bodies. Today we've proven to be so adept, that we need only hide our inner beings from prying eyes. We are then free to serve our souls penance through a daily condemnation, clutched so closely that the words need not be spoken, for its meaning is clearly understood.
To be vulnerable is to release a soul in bondage.
“But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
I love this post Nic! When we are vulnerable, we are broken, when we are broken, love can flow in and love can flow out. And that is the change this world needs.
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