BEAUTIFULLY INCOMPLETE

COMPLETE…words we like to see on a finished project or an emotionally healing…COMPLETE! Done…finished…perfected! Once a project is stamped COMPLETE, then we can move onto the next project. There is nothing I like more than a sense of accomplishment. But truthfully, there are many things in my life that never get that stamp of completion. I can’t seem to permanently fix my mouth when I’m frustrated with others. I can’t fix my emotional outbursts. I can’t permanently fix my anger. I can’t fix my weight issue or my out of shape body. I try, but these things never get that stamp COMPLETE!

We want to be beautifully complete! We want to be physically beautiful, be in perfect shape, have the perfect children, the perfect house, the perfect job, and the perfect spouse! This longing hits us for many different reasons.  Sometimes it is a societal pressure as we compare ourselves to the Facebook/Instagram perfection. Sometimes it is pressure we have placed on ourselves feeling if we are not perfect in at least one of these categories, then we have failed. Sometimes it is pressure placed on us by the expectation of our parents or family members. Whatever the pressure source, the struggle is real! If we can’t achieve these things, we feel incomplete.

Our identity is attached to whether we can stamp the word COMPLETE on our list of perfections. But each time we measure our progress, we only see the word INCOMPLETE!

• When we step on the scale…INCOMPLETE.
• When we watch our children struggle at school or with friends…INCOMPLETE.
• When we don’t get the promotion at our job…INCOMPLETE.
• When we have to sign our name as Ms., not Mrs.…INCOMPLETE.
• When we notice that our friend has a bigger and more beautiful house than us…INCOMPLETE.

We walk with the façade of completion, but our inward self reminds us on a minute-by-minute basis that we are incomplete and will never be complete because we are failures.

But what if we could see ourselves as BEAUTIFULLY INCOMPLETE?

I was recently reading a book and it was talking about being complete…that we are enough. But as I was reading this it hit me that I never feel complete therefore feel as though I am not enough. So, I flipped this concept and coined the phrase for myself…beautifully incomplete! I am BEAUTIFULLY INCOMPLETE!

In the book of Philippians, the apostle Paul is writing a letter to the church of Philippi. Years prior to this letter, the apostle Paul had traveled to Europe for the first time establishing the church of Philippi and spreading the story of Jesus.  In the context of this letter, Paul was under house arrest in Rome hoping to see those he loved and cherished in the church of Philippi. We are not confident that he was ever able to see them again before his death, but in his letter, he said one of the most profound statements about being complete.

“And I am certain that God who began the good work within you, will continue this work

until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Philippians 1:6

The apostle Paul knew they were not complete.  He knew that the good work that had started within them as a church would never be complete until when? Yes, until the day that Christ returns.  Do we know when that day is? NO! But we do know that on that day, we will be able to stamp the word COMPLETE!

So, what does that mean for my life today as I walk around with the word INCOMPLETE stamped on my forehead, monogrammed on my sweater, or scripted on my t-shirt?

• It means that when I mess up with my husband and say things that I shouldn’t, I can tell myself that I am BEAUTIFULLY INCOMPLETE!
• When my children do not act or behave in a manner of perfection, I can tell myself that they are BEAUTIFULLY INCOMPLETE! And that I am BEAUTIFULLY INCOMPLETE as a parent!
• When I walk away from a conversation knowing that I blew it and said something stupid, I remind myself that I am BEAUTIFULLY INCOMPLETE!
• When I step on that scale and it glows an unforeseen number, I say that I am BEAUTIFULLY INCOMPLETE!
• When I can’t complete an exercise goal, I state, “I am BEAUTIFULLY INCOMPLETE!”

I am not a failure…I am just INCOMPLETE! And beautifully so!

Our need to feel complete stems from the lack of grace for ourselves. The expectations that we put on ourselves as are through the roof. These expectations to be complete cause a tremendous amount of stress in our lives and in the lives of others around us.  If we met all those expectations of ourselves, then we would not need grace. But we do need grace! When we allow God’s grace to sink deep within us, we will begin to show ourselves grace.  We will lower our expectations of ourselves and be pleased with who we are today.  We will rest in the fact that we are BEAUTIFULLY INCOMPLETE and remain confident that “God who began a good work within you, will continue this work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

More than likely,

Jesus will not be returning tomorrow so be pleased that today

 you are BEAUTIFULLY INCOMPLETE!