Unveiling Zits on the Road to Glory

     Let me tell you a little not-so-secret secret: I have acne. Not exactly a problem I enjoy having. What girl wants to have puffy red dots all over her face? Not me. Driven by insecurity, I have gone about fixing this all too visible flaw in my vanity through various cleansers, masks, and, as only girls have the luxury of doing, makeup.  But, let me tell you from experience, all the layers of chemicals and skin-colored powder have only made everything worse.  Because, no matter how much I try to cover it up on the outside, the problem is on the inside.
     Let me tell you another bigger not-so secret secret: I have sin--a problem that is far uglier and far, far worse than a couple of zits.  And just as all my pesky pimples are only a symptom of the bacteria trapped inside me, all my icky behaviors that come to the surface--getting impatient with my roommate, boasting about my abilities, using harsh and manipulative words to get my way, arguing with my mother--are just the manifestation of a problem that is within my very nature.  A problem I was born into.  Try as I may to cover up all my pride with some real good spiritual makeup or religious zit-pop by trying to fix all my wrong behaviors on my own, these me-methods simply won't work. I will never get rid of my sin by dealing with it on the surface.  Sure, coverup may appear to be working for a while, but even if other people can't see what's underneath, God sure can.  And it's what he sees that matters to me, anyway.

     Now let me tell you something a little more hopeful in all this: my acne is going away.  I've figured out that certain foods irritate me, so I've started eating right to clear out my system from within.  I've also decided "to heck with the makeup!" If I want to see some true change, I've got to okay with the ugliness that's going to be exposed along the way. And you know what? It really is getting better!
     Let me tell you something way more hopeful than a more even skin tone: Jesus has conquered my sin problem.  He died for my sin--my ugly, horrible sin--by taking it on himself and defeating it.  My sin problem isn't a behavioral issue, those are just the zits that show me there's something that needs to be dealt with.  My sin is a nature problem: a bigger-than-me-I-can't-fix-it-I-need-a-doctor problem. And praise be to Jesus, he has done away with the old and made me new.  The sins that still cling to me?  Those don't define me--Jesus' righteousness is what defines me now.  And the sin that's still in me?  By the grace of God it is being being dealt with and extracted by his firm, loving hands.  Jesus has made me a new woman--that is his free gift, but I also am taking my responsibility seriously to "eat right" (feasting on the word of God!) and stop using spiritual makeup (I don't want to be a hypocrite! authenticity for the win!), so that God can work out in me what he's done within me.  Jesus has already saved me, but it's a process to take off the old nature and put on the new.  To surrender myself daily to the work that Jesus is doing inside me.  Yes, I'm aware that means a lot of ugliness is going to be exposed on the way, but I also know that I am daily getting closer to true healing and wholeness. And, oh, I am excited for the day when I get to stand before Christ with confidence and an unveiled (zitless) face, filled with joy as I gaze upon the absolute beauty of his.

***Disclaimer: this post is in not written to trap readers into legalistic dietary and cosmetic rules.  I could care less if you do or do not eat dairy or whether or not you decide to put on some Almay.  I do, however, deeply care about your walk with Christ.  If that's ever something you'd like to talk more about, I'd be more than happy to ;)