Pastor Devin Strong, Spirit of Peace Lutheran Church 

We are now deeply into the Christian observance of Lent. In my last column I challenged us all to use this 40-day season as a chance to get brutally honest with God and ourselves about who we are. 

In this world where spin, blame, and excuses are some of our favorite pass times, a season of real honesty is surely needed, but honesty has two parts to it—one is not thinking too much of ourselves, and the other is not thinking too little of ourselves, and both are equally important.

The church traditionally focuses on the overt, bad acts that you and I commit that intentionally or unintentionally harm others.

Some say that this is a typically male understanding of sin, but others of us, and perhaps especially women, are more prone to under- valuing ourselves, withholding our gifts, and thinking of ourselves as worthless to God. It turns out that this is just as much a sin as being arrogant. Of course, calling putting yourself down a “sin,” heaps even more guilt on people who already feel inadequate, which is the last thing that I want to do! Let’s just say that Lent is a season for being fully honest about the bad and the good.

All of this brings me to my new favorite t-shirt.

For my recent birthday, my wife bought me a black shirt. On the front in crisp, white letters, it says, “You are enough.” Then on the back it reads, “Dear person behind me, the world is a better place because you are in it.” I love this grace-filled message, and I suspect that this is a word that many of us need to hear.

Even when you and I are our greediest, pettiest, laziest selves, God does not hate us. The purpose of calling out those sins is not to condemn us but rather to call us away from that harmful behavior and into a more life-giving and abundant life. Yes, God judges our actions, both individually and corporately, but the Lord continues to love us through, and hopefully out of, our worst behaviors.

The purpose is always to raise us up again. What some of us need to hear this Lent is, you are enough, just as you are. You are intimately aware of your failings.

What you need to be reminded of is your extraordinary giftedness, your exceptional accomplishments, and your inherent beauty. That is part of real honesty, too.

When I was a kid in the 70’s, I had a popular poster on bedroom my wall that said, “God don’t make no junk!” That’s still true today. If you are a person who has trouble believing in your own worth, then consider the incredible power of God. The Creator who made the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls also made you, and God doesn’t make mistakes. If you insist on being dishonest about the good things in you, you are inadvertently demeaning your Creator.

So again, I say let’s be brutally honest this Lent.

God loves you enough that you can tell the whole truth about the mistakes that you make and the messes that you need to clean up, but let’s be equally honest about the incredible gifts that the Lord put inside each one of us. By celebrating these gifts, we are also celebrating our God.