I have heroes. My heroes are unlike superheroes. My heroes have flaws and sins and make mistakes; however, their greatness far outshines their flaws, except on social media. Recently, a hero of mine was attacked for not having the perfect words after a disappointing moment in his life. I do not worship this hero, but I do respect him. Twitter went a flutter because of the words he spewed. He’s a great coach. He is the only coach in college basketball to have over 1,000 wins. He’s written a book on leadership. His super power is his leadership skills that inspires his players to win. He’s not a perfect human being. In fact, his words were not that degrading, but when perfect people look for a flaw, they will attack whatever we do or say as it was the worst thing in the world, and their flaws and sins are never revealed. Therein lies the problem.
When we are so focused on pointing out the flaws and sins of others, we hide our own sins and flaws. I know because I have done that most of my Christian life. With social media, it has become much easier to hide. We hide behind our screens and present a perfect life. if we do have a flaw or make a mistake, we cover it up with pointing out the flaws of someone else. If someone else looks horrible, our own flaws do not look so bad. It is a bad choice and one that most of us make, especially on social media.
There are people in the Bible that made this same choice. They are the Pharisees and other religious leaders. They would walk around and point out the flaws of other people, while at the same time committing the same sins or wrongs that their victims would never think of committing. I would love to demean this kind of perfection, but I cannot because I have done the exact same thing. We all hide so that people will not think less of us. in reality, those who think highly of us would like to see how we handle those mistakes and flaws.
To be fair, no one wants to read anyone’s own sins or flaws on social media. We do want to see the good. We can all decide for ourselves when a person with some fame says something if the words are evil or not. We do not need thousands of people to inform us of how horrible someone is. I do not want to see the bad in people. I know my heroes and their flaws. That’s why they are my heroes. I know how they have overcome their flaws and risen above them to accomplish the great feats that they have done.
The reason why people want to expose the flaws of those who have accomplished amazing feats is because they believe that if they bring others down, it will build them up. Maybe they cannot act in a film or coach a basketball team, but they can fold their laundry. Sorry, but when we point out the flaws of others who are using their gifts and talents to the fullest, we are revealing that we have yet to accomplish the fullness of our gifts and talents, including myself.
As we enter the second month of the year 2021, I have decided to revisit my goals for the New Year. I want to be better. I want to do better. I want to work on me and improve myself. It will start with not judging others for their flaws and working on my gifts and talents. Once I focus on me, I do not have time or energy to focus on others. I want to inspire others and have others inspire me. I know everyone is flawed, but I am going to choose to see the good in others. February is the month of love. Maybe we can begin to show and give love and then we will be open to receive it.
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