The following letter began as one of those exercises where you write out all the things you want to say but feel like you can't or shouldn't for some reason. However, these words apply to many more than the one I initially had in mind. May they be an encouragement to you:
Dear Dear-Heart,
Here I am again, writing a letter that you will likely never read. Right
now you’re probably watching (insert game, show or movie of choice), kicking
back with (friend 1) and (friend 2), and drinking a couple (insert beverage of
choice). I hope you’ve been able to rest this weekend. This morning in church
we had a guest speaker, Steve Timmis. He’s British, and he even had a pocket
watch! He spoke of James Bond, individualism, necessary community, and what it
means to be a real man. I deeply wish that you had been there to hear it.
You see, he talked of how James
Bond is held as this hero, and how we tend to hold being disconnected and
isolated, not needing anyone or able to be impacted by anyone, as a sign of
maturity. But Dear-Heart, it is not maturity; it is simply fear. A lot of times
we think of our humanity as a weakness, and our emotions as deficiencies. We
think that whatever success we have or growth that happens within in us is in
spite of those things, but it is not. Humanity and emotions are largely what
God uses to grow us and shape us, and bless others through us.
We were made to be in real
community. The kind where the people we interact with know us for who we are.
We don’t cover our imperfections or shortcomings, and we build bridges to one
another rather than building up walls. You don’t have to be afraid. God made us
(humans) to be in community. We need each other. We need to allow ourselves to
need each other. Let your walls down. I know you built them because you thought
they’d keep you safe, but they’re keeping out everyone, and it will really only
leave you afraid, lonely and disconnected.
You were born to be a man of
great strength, honor, wisdom, conviction, passion, justice, kindness, goodness,
love, mercy and humility. You were born to be a man of God. You cannot have
great strength or anything good of your own accord. As a human being, made in
the image of God, you were created to reflect. But like the moon’s glow is
entirely from the sun, so your glory comes entirely from the Son, from God.
You don’t have to be strong or
bold or good or wise, athletic, handsome, or clever enough. God uses the weak
to lead the strong. You keep going out looking for a good time, but are you
really content with that? Are you content with staying where you are, refusing
to let anyone come closer because then you couldn’t control everything?
Relationships, any kind, are
going to be messy, hard, and uncomfortable. Don’t waste your life trying to
remain comfortable and just have a good time. I know you are hating these words
because you know, somewhere inside you, you know that they are true. Hurt will
happen, and people will let you down. But we don‘t have to be afraid of it.
God made us to be impacted by
people. He works all things together for the good of those who love Him.
Please, stop running away and just trying to get by. Just let yourself be
broken, and let all your walls down. There’s so much more to life than the
cycle you’ve put yourself in.
Hear me when I say that I
already see and respect the strength, honor, wisdom, kindness, conviction, and
all of that in you. But I can also see you are trapped by your own fear. You
want to love freely, but you don’t really know how to. You want to communicate,
but it’s just easier not to try, and to avoid working through things that are
complicated, and require vulnerability. You don’t have to be afraid of wherever
you might fall short on any scale. The only one that really matters is where
you stand before God. And yes, we all fall short of the glory of God. We are
broken and incapable of reaching God or restoring ourselves. We know in the
deepest part of us that we want more than anything this world can offer. Yet,
because we cannot grab hold of it and control it, we settle for what we can see
and what we can feel like we can control. But get this: God didn’t send his Son
into the world to condemn it, but in order that the world might be saved
through Him. Jesus lived the perfect life. He never fell short. He never broke
a commandment, was never selfish, never arrogant, never lusted or lied. He
never stole, and He never deceived. He was never lazy or manipulative. He never
held any grudges. He always had the right view and attitude towards other
people. He always knew when to rest, play and work in perfect balance.
When I see pictures of you, my
heart smiles and aches at the same time. I love seeing pictures of you, and
simply being reminded that you exist. My heart breaks a little as I see the
bags under your eyes. Just from the picture I can start to feel how tired you
are. I long for you to be deeply refreshed. The kind of refreshment that you
feel in the deepest parts of your soul—that refreshment that leads to
unspeakable joy. Yes, Dear-Heart, this is what I want for you.
But how can I possibly speak of
such joy after acknowledging that we are desperately broken, and utterly
incapable of truly healing ourselves? After all, it is true that we stand
condemned for every speck of our sin, separated from the God that made us to
delight in Himself. How can I speak of joy when there is a death sentence
before us? We have a sub. A holy substitute.
“For all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God…”—a bible verse that is cited often. Romans 3:23. For
a really long time, I just stopped there. But Dear-Heart, there is great hope
in even the rest of that sentence! The passage goes like this: “For all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a
gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a
propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” Jesus is our holy
substitute! Dear-Heart, it gets better. “For our sake he made him to be sin who
knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2
Corinthians 5:21) Can you imagine?! Being the righteousness of God? What?! It
is a glorious truth that I have yet to comprehend.
I’m not sure how much of this
you’ve heard before. I don’t really know what you grew up believing. What I do
know though, is that the only real hope that there is, is Jesus. He’s the only One
that will never leave you, and never let you down. Like me, I’m sure you’ve put
plenty of people up on pedestals, only to find that they don’t really deserve
to be held that highly. They can’t live up to it. Dear-Heart, you put people up
on pedestals because you were made to worship. The only One truly worthy of all
your praise and affection is Jesus. He loves you and gave Himself for you. No
one can ever love you as much as Jesus loves you. And everyone and everything
else will fail you. You can’t build a pedestal high enough for Jesus. The only One who deserves to be exalted, is
He who left His throne to enter into our world of pain and frailty, took on all
of our imperfection, failures and ugliness, to restore us to Himself. He made
us for Himself. We chose otherwise and rebelled against Him. He conquered hell
and death to bring us home. He won’t make you come, but He will always love
you.
“The gospel is this: We are more sinful
and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time
we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” –Tim Keller
Dear-Heart, I long for you to
know what it is to love and be loved freely. I earnestly hope that you gain
some sense of God’s love for you in our interactions. There is freedom, peace,
rest, joy, hope and love. I am waiting to rejoice in you realizing these things
for yourself.
Most
Sincerely,
Alice
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