A Truth and a Lie

There is a great lie being told across the world right now. And the ironic thing is that it comes from a great truth, but it has been twisted into a lie. I see it everywhere. In songs, movies, books, political discussions, etc.

The truth is this:

You are of great worth.

The lie is this:

You are good enough the way you are

They almost sound like the same thing. Which makes it a very subtle lie. But one will lead us to our greatest potential, the other will stunt us in our growth.

Now don't get me wrong, I think it is a good thing to be accepting of yourself, weaknesses and all. We should be gentle and kind to ourselves, not harsh and condemning. But we should never excuse something simply because "that's just how I am." We will never learn and grow if we simply sit down and say "Well, this is as good as I can get."

I am an introvert. Recently, I have noticed a push for the world to recognize the power of introverts. Introverts have made amazing contributions to the world. It is not inherently bad to be an introvert. But the danger comes from thinking "well, I'm an introvert, that's just the way that I am so I don't need to learn how to talk to people." I used to be painfully shy as a girl. I have grown a lot since then, but especially since I've been married. My husband has helped me see that I shouldn't make excuses for myself. Being an introvert isn't bad, but not being able to easily talk to people and be friendly to others was holding me back. It's not that I have to be an extrovert, but I have to be willing to overcome the weaknesses that are inherent in being an introvert. If I was an extrovert, then I would have to try to overcome the weaknesses that come along with that.

The most obvious example to me is that of a baby. Most people recognize that babies are of great worth. That they deserve to be treated with love. But honestly, they are not good enough the way that they are. Unless you want to be changing diapers and carrying around a baby the rest of forever, you hope that your baby will grow and develop. That they will learn to walk, sleep through the night, eat by themselves, use the toilet, etc. (Yes, sometimes we wish they wouldn't grow up quite so fast, but we are grateful that they do grow up!) I think their great worth comes from knowing they have great potential.

We are children of a Heavenly Father, and as children we have the potential to become like our Father. As His children, we are of infinite worth because of that potential. Christ suffered and died for us because He saw our worth, our value. We always deserve to be treated with love and respect because of who we are, but we should never fall into the trap of believing that we are good enough as we are. We all have weaknesses, and we are all broken in some way. But once we recognize that, we can work on turning those weaknesses into strengths and strive to reach our full potential.