Let’s Be Hot Messes Together

by Caitlin

It would be foolish to clean the outside of a dirty bowl and call it clean. {Matthew 23:25-28}

Yet it’s the same thing to clean up the outside of our lives and put on fronts, calling ourselves put together when our insides are a hot mess.

Every day I feel pressure to look put together in every area. I feel it from the outside world, but if I’m honest, even more from myself. It leads me to try my hardest to trick myself into thinking I have it all together so that I can put forth that vibe. It keeps me from sharing what’s really going on because if I don’t know your junk, why would I tell you mine?

As I’ve given more thought to my to do and to be lists, I’ve realized that my need to accomplish so many to do’s is closely tied to making myself feel tied together on the inside. Really, there are a lot of loose ends inside. Pride, jealousy, anger…there’s a part of me that believes if I control the outside of my life, then the inside will be set. But if that’s the case, I’m just addressing the symptoms, not the problem. Granted, making strides to change the symptoms will likely lead to {slow} changes on the inside. But the effective, more lasting route, is to deal with the junk on the inside. This is what is lasting; it will result in greater changes in my life than the quick fix.

So friends, I just want you to know that on the inside, things are a mess. But by the grace of God, He is untangling them and redeeming them for His glory. I’m begging Him to hurry up and make me more like Him- or at least let me get out of His way more often. But I know He is faithful and will complete what He started. I know I’m blessed to have people who are ok with that and don’t expect me to have it all together.

I want to be better at showing that sort of grace. Can we be honest hot messes together? Spilling what’s really going on and not wallowing in it, but encouraging and loving one another out of our junk? Let’s link arms and be reflections of Christ’s grace to each other.