At work once, our office staff had to engage in a team building
activity that required us to hammer a word of intention onto a metal
ring. I created two that day, but one was filled with mistakes as the
hammer slipped out of my hand when I tried to imprint the letters. I
kept it, however, as a more treasured possession that reflects a beautiful humility inherent in the errors. The message on it was from 1 John 4:16 that says "God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in them."
I got the second metal ring right and hammered the letters in without incident,
but I cherish the mistake laden one more because it represents me better. The
truth is, I don't always listen to understand or love without judgment. My thoughts, words, and actions aren't always aligned with the God in me, but instead flow from a heart that hasn't been well guarded. Proverbs 4:23 says "above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it," and if I'm being honest, I've not always been the best steward and watchman over my own heart. I've watched things I should have turned off, I've engaged in behaviors I should have stopped, and I've been careless with my words. But I try. Fail. Try again. And the beautiful thing about it all is that God loves me, not because my love for Him and others is perfect, but because it's not. It's an utterly imperfect love, completely dependent upon the God who created me. And that is perfect.
