Is Tried

Nobody is perfect. You and I both have heard that before, but some of us really struggle with wondering if our “good enough” is good enough. Those nagging doubts infect our relationship with our spouse, our children, our job, and even with God. The Bible helps us out on that last one and lets us know that “…all our righteous acts are like filthy rags…” (see Isaiah 64:6). So, no, you are not good enough, but that doesn’t stop God from loving you and choosing to use you and desiring a relationship with you.

The U.S. Constitution is a powerful document. A recent visit to the National Archives reminded me of the blood, sweat, and tears that went into crafting such a forward thinking document that has become the foundation for what has been called “The Great American Experiment”. It is humbling to think what great men our forefathers must have been to craft such an elegant and lasting governing document…then you see all of the edits in the exhibits around the Rotunda and you realize that the Constitution itself is a final draft of a work in progress. Our best will never be good enough, but it doesn’t have to be. God desires our hearts to be ever seeking Him, and in the process of seeking Him we worship Him more than we ever could with our own accomplishments.

We all fall short, we all make mistakes. Taking photographs is not permitted at the Archives. The picture you see above will be one of the few on this blog that I did not take. (I got in trouble for touching the glass, so I certainly wasn’t gong to take out my camera and tripod and risk prison time to share a photo with you.) In the picture you will see one of the errors contained in this original copy the U.S. Constitution. When Jacob Shallus was put in charge of the production of the engrossed copy of the Constitution he somehow left out a few words in Article 1 Section 3 (and later inserted “is tried” to correct his mistake). This is just one of the several errors, oversights, omissions and mistakes in the archived copy of the U.S. Constitution, and they are not all Jacob Shallus’ fault. Even Alexander Hamilton contributed to the errors on this governing documents.

Hear my heart this morning. I am not implying that our Constitution is any less valid because a scribe missed a few words the first time around (or that he scraped off some words, changed 40,000 to 30,000 and cut the bottom edge off one parchment since there was no delete button), but that you do not have to be perfect to be significant to God. As Max Lucado famously wrote, “God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you too much to leave you that way.” We are not perfect, and God loves us. We have errors, oversights, omissions and mistakes and that is ok with God. We could never “earn” his love or approval by being as close to perfect as humanly possible, but we can desire Him and desire to grow. The same is true for your marriage, or any relationship in your life.

You do not have to be a perfect husband or wife, but be one that constantly strives to be growing. You do not have to be a perfect parent, but don’t give up or condemn yourself because things aren’t going the way you feel they should. You do not have the perfect boss, teammate, pastor, leader, or teacher. You don’t need to hide or cover up your flaws, because we all have them and God loves us just the same. Just don’t be afraid to try your best to right your wrongs and to grow and improve, and be glad that your flaws aren’t on display for the entire world to visit.