My journey has been one of looking at the unacceptable, embarrassing parts of myself, and then humbly asking God to heal me. This can be a challenge for a Perfectionist, but it has been a freeing experience for me. Below are my Aunt Betty’s words to me in red on this topic:

Jesus drew close to the people who were dealing with their weaknesses.  The Pharisees were in denial of their sins and projecting them onto others.  Jesus criticized the Pharisees: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.  Matthew 23:27

The Pharisees weren’t facing their unhealed parts.  Instead of looking at their own sinfulness, they were busy condemning others.  If we want to get closer to the Lord, we have to deal with the parts in ourselves we don’t like.  When I was a younger, I wanted to bring the best version of myself to chapel. Yet, the Lord wanted me to bring Him my brokenness, not my holy part.  I found that by bringing my ugly parts to Jesus, I acknowledged them and then He could heal them. “You got to feel it to heal it.” 

It’s not about being perfect, but about humbly going before the Lord and seeking His help.  It’s important to accept our broken parts in order to have them healed.  Hating them only makes it worse. Christians want to please Jesus and present the good parts of themselves to Him, but Jesus hung out with sinners.  In order to be truly merciful with others, we need to look at the places where we, too, have failed. People can unconsciously feel when we are judging them, and that only complicates things and provides a hook where we get caught in their stuff. As God changes our heart and gives us compassion for another, our relationship with them changes, and we also receive healing in the area where we are hooking with them.  People feel the change in us, as we are no longer judging them, but facing our brokenness.  We are out of the deception that we are without fault. 

How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.  (Luke 6:42)