Today my son and oldest daughter decided that they would like to plant a sunflower seed. They asked what we needed to accomplish this task. I responded that we needed to buy some potting soil. My son asked, "why can't we just use dirt from the ground." I told him that we could, but that the high quality potting soil would help that sunflower really grow fast and well.
Many humans may think of themselves as seeds planted in mere dirt from the ground, but the reality is that we are all planted in high quality potting soil. Whether we have been kind or not to this soil over the years is immaterial. The potting soil is still there, the nutrients are in place, and we are ready to grow into the people we are designed to be. None of us, no matter how poorly we have behaved, is planted merely in dirt.
For many folks, life seems like a seed planted in rocks. Nothing is growing ... nothing is emerging ... just day after day there is a seed lying there. Once we know our current selves well enough to see that we are that seed lying there dormant, then we are ready to shift our lives so that we can grow.
The reality is that we are all planted in this nutrient-rich potting soil. We are designed to grow into these wonderful beings. Will we ever be perfect ... well, no. But are we designed to live our lives on a path where we are growing and becoming more beautiful ... well, yes! Accepting yourself is about accepting that you are more than that seed in mere dirt, or worse yet that seed sitting in the rocks. Accepting yourself is about accepting that you were designed and created to grow.
Just what are we designed to grow into? Well, we are told that there is a God, and his design is for humans to live in reaction to his love for us. What does this mean? It means that God has done for us, and we should then want to do for others. When we comprehend what has been done for us, we should live feeling that we want to then serve others in response. Our nutrient-rich potting soil is the fertile ground from which this selflessness can emerge. As we have a stronger human to God relationship, we naturally begin to blossom into the humans we are designed to become.
“As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. ”