Day 28: Imperfections

I touched on this earlier. Our strengths are our greatest weaknesses and our weaknesses can be our greatest strengths. Do you believe that?

I love how Paul describes it in 2 Corinthians 12. Over and over he states that God gives us weaknesses in order for us to triumph over them. He allows us to feel the joy and exhilaration of accomplishing something, perfecting ourselves and coming to him. He allows us to create ourselves. If we were already perfected, we would have no need to grow and we would not feel the immense triumph from overcoming an obstacle.

And what if everyone were perfect? Well, certainly we would not need one another. We would all stick to ourselves and never communicate. That defeats a main purpose of mortality: Family. Also, I love that part of economics class when they talk about trade and specialization.  It fascinates me that by working together with someone, everyone can have a higher and more rewarding production possibility. And that’s not to mention the benefits of social interaction and human touch.

But that’s not all. Weaknesses remind us of our Savior and all he does for us. Weaknesses help us look to the Creator of our souls. Weaknesses create a father-child bond that could otherwise be unattainable. What would happen if babies came with all the skills they ever needed? What if from the day they were born, they could move out and go to college? Think of that roughly 18-year gap you’d lose out on! Sometimes that sounds just fine to me, but mostly, I’d miss that happy smile. I’d miss the love and bonds we share over an intense game of Sorry!.  I’d miss  the opportunity to learn and grow from being a parent. And my daughter would miss that and more. She’d miss the feeling of someone watching out for her, and the feeling of safety. Learning would be much harder. She’d never have a connection with me. The same is true of us and our Heavenly Father. Our weaknesses give us a chance to come to him.

And that’s all speaking in a general term. Our specific weaknesses have the potential to become our greatest strengths. Because we see that they need work, and we focus on them. I think of Heber J. Grant and his determination to overcome his weaknesses. He was often ridiculed for having chicken scratch for handwriting; so he worked and worked at it. Eventually, people hired him for his beautiful calligraphy. But he didn’t stop there. He applied the same determination to singing and sports. His weaknesses provided all kinds of blessings in his life. I can only imagine the tests he passed that no one saw.