embrace the messy

Embrace the messy hair. The messy desks. The messy drawers. The messy souls. It’s the messy that’s real - the hard; the hurt; the love; the beauty; the truth. 

We are people with mixed up emotions and thoughts and desires. Our realities our hard, and often lonely.

And trust me, sweet friend, that you are not the only one that way. You are not the only person in the world with these inner feelings, nor in your city or your work or your school or even your friend group. We all have messy realities. We all are broken people, trying to hide who we truly are from millions of others just like us. 

So why don’t we let people in? If all our realities - who we truly are - are just a jumbled up mess of everything, with no real organization or control or sense, why not let others who are, in a way, innately the same as us into our lives? Why not show our truth to others?

So choose a friend, or a few, that you love. Choose someone to become friends with. And be real. Let them see you at your worst, in your most crumbly state. Start peeling back each mask that you wear and reveal your heart to them. Show them where you’re at, and your friend will be encouraged to do the same. You will begin to be real and intentional with each other and you will see not only your friendship grow but also the knowledge of your beautiful worth, the understanding of the importance of real relationships, and your love. 

Our God created us, knowing that we would be messy. Knowing that our realities would be crumbly. But he made each of us with these struggles, intending for us to be together, and worship Him through it all. God wants us together in community to be real and live life together and experience and love each other through our brokenness. We are meant to weave our lives together, to work and to love as one, and Christ will come and heal our mess. He has died for this mess - our sin - because he perfectly loves us. The One who was perfect took our mess from us so that we can live in freedom through him. He looks past our messiness and loves us - infinitely, perfectly, and gracefully. 

Through Christ, there is love and hope in community. Through Christ, there is healing and comfort and growth in intimate friendship.

If Christ’s love is our example.. dear Lord, let us love like you. Let us embrace each other’s mess and love them through it. Show us that mess is okay - that you have taken the punishment for us and because of that, we need not be afraid. Help us to be real and vulnerable with our dearest friends so that they are encouraged to be real as well. Remind us that you know our hearts and it just makes it harder for us when we hide them from you and from others. Remind us that you made us not to struggle and then to fail but to experience struggle with others and to glorify your name through it all. Lord we are so thankful for the love you give us despite our messes. Thank you for the people in our lives that we have the potential to be real with. Thank you for creating people to be in relationship with and for helping us live together through the mess. Dear God, help us embrace the messy.