Learning To Live With Our Flaws

Wabi Sabi contains the meaning of living with inevitable flaws. This Japanese phrase adapts to a method of repairing broken pottery emphasizing the cracks rather than trying to hide them.

Many straight-A students are driven to perfectionism by fear of failure, fear of not being good enough. Often B and C students live better lives, are happier, and achieve greater things. Yet many parents and school systems emphasize the desirability of achieving straight-A status.

Looking to Jesus for advice on how to live, I see how he pokes at the Pharisees’ attempts to both live a perfect life and expect others to live a perfect life. He tended to show what we call grace toward people. He taught a life of constant tuning of the heart. 

I hate to be the bearer of this news for some of you, but perfectionism is not a sustainable lifestyle. We have to accept the little flaws in our coffee mug as well as those little flaws of sometimes saying the wrong thing or failing to help out when we could. Sometimes we are simply not perfect. And that’s OK. As long as we do the right things and have our hearts in the right place.

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