They say that you’re the worst version of yourself with your family, and I can confirm that this is true. I was quite the argumentative teenager, and my toxic cycle usually ran like this: do something kinda wrong, get caught, construct 3-5 semi-valid excuses, and avoid an apology at all costs. The only thing that could stop the cycle was two words from my mom,

“Own it!”

I share this because I am willing to bet that the most underrated, underused gift you have is the gift of owning your weaknesses.  There are so many talented speakers and authors who have molded me, but nothing has stuck with me quite like friends and family admitting their faults or asking for forgiveness. I’ll never forget the example of my parents apologizing to me as a child, the freedom that came when an older family member told me that she still wrestled with anxiety in her nineties or the community and vulnerability that follow when a friend in small group tearfully tells us the truth of what she’s going through.

The practice of “owning it” should be commonplace to those whose God gives grace to the humble and opposes the proud (James 4:6), but often we choose to hide behind a mask of religiosity and bolster our confidence with comparison instead.

So, reader, I have to ask: When is the last time you owned it- whatever “it” is?

How might our homes be renewed by the simple phrase “I’m sorry”? How might our church be transformed if we told the truth to each other in small groups? How might our nonbelieving friends see a Jesus whose followers are slow to make excuses and quick to apologize? How might your grandkids benefit from knowing that sanctification still happens in your seventies?

God said that His power is made perfect in weakness. So, are you anxious? Own it! Are you depressed? Own it! Have you hurt your family and/or friends with your words? Own it! Did you mess up at work? Own it!

Let the world receive the witness of your weakness! If your picture-perfect life has started to feel more like a whitewashed tomb, it’s time to grab your shovel. May we dig up all our shortcomings, failures, and full apologies, for the glory of God and the sake of the world.

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2^nd Corinthians 12:9-10)