Stop Saying You're A Beautiful Mess
"For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves." Colossians 1:13
So I am going to have to walk on egg shells while sharing today. I could easily be misunderstood or offend, and that is not my intent.
It seems to be culturally acceptable for Christians to be "hot messes." It's almost celebrated. I see it on t-shirts, bumper stickers, and floating around social media sites. It's sometimes used as an excuseor crutch for bad behavior. People drink too much, curse too much, have sex outside of marriage, lust after a neighbor's spouse, and sin against God over and over and say, "Well, I'm just a hot mess" or "God loves my beautiful mess."
Two words for you: STOP IT!
While I assume people mean well when they say they are a "hot mess" or a "beautiful mess," I can't help but ask, "Why?" If you are a believer in Christ, why are you claiming your life as a mess? Jesus came so we don't have to live life a mess. Key words: LIVE life a mess.
Is life messy? Absolutely. Do we all get in funks? YES! Life can be so complicated, but we have a Savior who will give us direction, who will give us hope, who will help us up out of our mess if we will pack away our tent, stop camping where God never intended for us to camp, reach for his hand, stand up and overcome. Remember, we are overcomers! We have the authority of the heavens inside of us.
"For the Spirit of God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7
A friend of mine recently wore a necklace that said, "absolutely, totally, perfectly, imperfect." The sentiment around her neck is true. We are all imperfect, and that's a fact. We will never be perfect until we are reunited with the Creator. But we can choose to live a life based on the word and what the word proclaims over us or we can choose to live in our mess. I can't find in scripture where God callsus "a beautiful mess." He calls us all an overcomer, victors, children of the most High, and heirs to the throne.
Don't stay in the mess.
God loves us the same whether we are in a mess or not. His love for us never changes. He is not waiting for his chance to condemn us. He wants good for us. And I think it's totally natural and normal for us all to feel like we are in the middle of a mess or that we are a complete and utter mess, but the game changer is deciding whether or not to rise up and get out of it. His word tells us that he wants us to have the victory.
We have to cling to the future and the hope we have in Jesus and claim our victory.
We have to stand up, shake our fists in the air and say, "I will live a victorious life not a messy and confusing life. I am beautiful, but I am not a mess." God is not the author of chaos and confusion, Satan is.
We need to share our messy story with others, but make sure we let them know who had the victory. If we don't, we just begin to pull others in to our messy camps and invite them to unpack and stay there, too. Before we know it, we are celebrating how messy we are instead of celebrating how loved and redeemed we are by the King of kings.
Let the world know that you no longer live in a mess, but that God delivered you from your mess, and He will do so time and time again!
You are beautiful, and you may be IN a mess, but, friend, you are NOT a mess.
I love you all!
Father, thank you for being holy, righteous, and all powerful. Thank you for reaching down in to the darkness, taking our hands, and pulling us out of the darkness we sometimes camp in. Thank you for loving us so much that your son died so that we don't have to live life in a mess. Thank you for making all things new. Thank you for your wisdom, guidance, and redemption. We praise your name and give you all the glory for all we are. In Jesus' name. Amen.
