Beautiful Contradiction

I’m a walking, living, breathing contradiction. A grammar snob who sometimes misplaces commas. A clean freak whose room looks like a bomb-kissed bookstore. I’m an exercise enthusiast who both loves and hates running and a fiction writer who’s forgotten how to plot a story.

I’ll contentedly snail my way through an autograph line, but I hate waiting for long-term goals to come to fruition.

I despise cold weather … I live in the Midwest.

I love to travel … I can’t stand long drives.

I’m a borderline Vegan who eats seafood. A workaholic who loves to play. A perfectionist lugging an ever-present bag of mistakes.

A sinner whom God calls “saint.” A filthy peasant whom the King of the universe calls “daughter.”

I am nobody. And yet, to the only One Whose opinion matters, I am one of a kind.

Perfection is not a requirement for admission into God’s adopted family. We’re strange, fickle creatures who strive tirelessly one moment to practice purity and goodness, and the next fall like a slaughtered calf, sacrificed to the idols of our soul.

 We need not hide from our Father in a dark corner every time we do something silly or even devastating to miss the mark of perfection. We need only to throw back our heads, spread our arms wide and relish in the downpour of forgiveness, grace, and love waiting to fall upon us from a Savior who sees our every fault and quirk and still chooses to call us His own.

Imperfect, yet sought after by the One Who invented perfection. Now that is a beautiful contradiction.

 

“Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. He has showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.” ~ Ephesians 1:4-8, NLT