Jars Of Clay

As we start a new year, there's one thing I long to see in our culture. Something that can seem dangerous, hard, and strips us to the core. It's called vulnerability. 

We are the culture of selfie sticks, image and falseness. You see, we all wear a mask, and it can look different for each one of us. For some, it comes in the form of false confidence, where we boast in our mask, not what is real beneath. For others, it comes in the form of physicality. Dressing up, caking on the make up and pretending to be someone we know we are not. We are a culture hidden behind the mask of social media and endless photo filters. 

Now, I'm not saying that social media, or dressing up is bad, but what I'm saying is stop hiding. Being vulnerable is crazy scary. Opening yourself so people see who you really are, that's knee shaking stuff. But vulnerability in turn carries beauty;

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show us that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." - 2 Corinthians 4:7

Man, our appearances are not what matters, the filters we put on our lives are not what shines. It's being broken, it's not being afraid to tell people you're broken, and it's about letting the real you shine out. You don't have to tell people that 'everything's fine' when really it's not. In your weakness, God shows his strength. In your brokenness, God shows his healing. Life's not about being perfectly put together, but it's about allowing yourself to be vulnerable, and to be broken, because being broken is the realist and most fundamental thing we can be in a broken world. And the best news is, from that brokenness, the treasure that is your beauty of true character, shines forth. 

Happy New Year friends, my prayer for you is to allow God to shine through the cracks and brokenness that have happened, so that your vulnerability is shown through the real beauty of Christ our King. 

J