“And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.” (Colossians 3:14)
What an artist Christ is! He would make a masterpiece of our lives. His finishing touch upon us, that which causes us to shine with the glory of our Lord, is to love those who don’t love us.
Who, but Jesus, loves His enemies, blesses those who curse Him, does good to those who hate Him, prays for those who mistreat Him? This Perfect Man is the Light and Hope of the world. He is the Sun in a dark, angry, hateful world. And those who are His are called to reflect His light and shine with His beauty.
Man is not good in and of himself. He may for a time possess an outward beauty. But inwardly we are all bankrupt of goodness. We need a Savior. We need to be rescued from our terrible inability to properly respond to the wrong we face. In our hurt, we hurt. We don’t become better through pain, we become bitter. We solve nothing, we compound the problem. No, we are not a work of art, we are a piece of work.
The humble acknowledge that they need help. They don’t demand that the world around them change. They want to change. They want to go from raging to patient; from vengeful to merciful; from ugly to beautiful. And they know that they cannot bring about this change on their own.
Let the Beautiful One make you beautiful. Let the Good One make you good. Become His masterpiece.