Keeping Up Appearances

“You have such an incredible forehead.”

I smiled at the peculiar statement. The woman applying my make-up for a high school play continued to gush about the smoothness of my forehead. Thanking her, I explained my skin had not always been the “perfect canvas” she was praising. Strong medication had been the key to calming down a complexion once overrun by acne.

Still pleased with actually getting a compliment on my skin, I told my mother and my grandmother all about the forehead conversation. I admit I was more than a little surprised when my grandmother scolded me. She felt I should have taken the compliment and that I most certainly should not have confessed my lovely complexion was thanks to medication.

My grandmother’s reprimand left me perplexed. Why take credit for something I could take no credit for? I wasn’t embarrassed I had once struggled with acne. I did not feel the need to hide my pimply-faced past, basking in the glory of one woman’s praises. I was thrilled to share with her how changed my skin was. My skin had been deeply healed, and I did not want to keep that to myself.

I feel the same way about the profound healing work Christ has done in my life. I could pretend I have been a good little Christian girl with nary a blemish to be found in my past, a poster child for Biblical living from infancy until now. But that would be a lie. I have a past. A past overflowing with sin. A past blemished by foolishness, selfishness, and just plain rebellion. But thanks to Christ and the price He paid on the cross, I now have a present (and a future) full of forgiveness and healing and hope.

1 Peter 3:15 offers this reminder…“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

I am called to share the reason for the hope I have. I am not called to try to keep up a façade of having it all together. I don’t need for anyone to think that I am perfect. Jesus is the one and only perfect One. He is the Lamb without spot or blemish (1 Peter 1:19). He is the One who can bring healing to any life willing to call on His name. And that, my friends, is something worth sharing with all the world!