This is the corner of the building where I work.
The stonework at the top right is rough and jagged. On the left, the stonework appears smooth, maybe even polished. But that’s because it’s obscured by the shadow.
Sometimes, people around us appear smooth, polished. But do you want the truth? They aren’t. They’re rough and jagged, needing to be worked over just like you. The only difference is that your roughness is currently being illuminated. Theirs is being obscured by luck, by circumstance, by their furious efforts to make sure that they always appear as nothing less than perfect.
We all are imperfect, wondering and wandering through life, looking for perfection, redemption, and meaning. I don’t think you’ll find it anywhere outside of the love of Jesus, but that’s not my point here. I simply want you to know that we’re all messed up; no one is exempt from the imperfections that you see in yourself. Please don’t feel like you’re less than others, that you’re somehow uniquely flawed. We are all flawed, all broken, all in need.
So, let’s drop the pretense, admit our flaws, and treat people with the same grace and simple respect we need from others.