You Are Good
My Dearest Friend,
You are beautiful.
Inside.
Outside.
The speechless, invisible part that encompasses the fullness of who you are.
It’s all breathtaking.
Because of the increase in wickedness that surrounds, the love of most has grown cold. But not you. You have a form of godliness. A light that can’t be shielded. I know it doesn’t always feel that way. It’s easy to fall into the condemnation that you don’t love well enough. That you take more from this world than you give, and your problems are a burden to the people around you. But let me counter your thoughts by asking you something:
Did you smile at a stranger today?
Did you hold the door open for someone you’ll never see again?
Did you pass someone on the street and long to help them?
Did you pause at the elegance of the rising sun?
Did you push yourself too far so that someone you love didn’t have to?
Did you take a hit for a friend?
Did you think about someone you used to know, and wish you could reach out and tell them so?
If your answer is yes to any of these questions, you’ve just proven the intentions of your heart. There is good inside of you.
I know it doesn’t feel like it.
I can see that half the time you’re afraid of yourself.
You’re afraid of your feelings… as if they have the power to define who you are.
But they don’t.
There is good inside of you. Understand that. You’re not a lost cause or too far gone. Despite your horrific choices, the way you oppose nature, the obscenities that rattle through your tongue, and your rejection of God’s will for your life. Everything you’ve done and everything you’ve become—it will never be enough to squander the goodness placed inside of you.
I don’t say these things to condone your behavior. Let me be clear: the way you act is atrocious. But you could probably say the same thing about me every now and again. I’m not perfect either.
So, what are you—what are we—supposed to do?
A long time ago, I made a choice to start stopping.
Stop the binging.
Stop the porn.
Stop the lying.
Stop the godlessness.
Stop the obscenity.
Stop the hate.
Stop the fornication.
Stop the self-mutilation.
Stop the drinking.
Stop the smoking.
Stop the blasphemy.
I stopped it all. Cold turkey. Or, at least, I tried.
Honestly, it was more of an experiment than a conviction. I was an ugly, numbed, glutton that got sick of being who I was. That’s really as deep as it went.
But you know what happened?
Pausing the darkness finally gave room for the goodness and light to grow.
For so long, I was convinced that everything I’d become was a result of what happened to me as a child. Funny thing is, that used to be true. But at some point, it wasn’t my parents’ fault anymore—it was mine. I was old enough to make my own choices and shape my story into whatever I wanted it to be. And I was choosing—albeit subconsciously—to poison my body, mind, soul, and spirit, with devilish schemes.
Yet, all along—every horrific action and decision—it was never enough to completely squander the goodness placed inside of me. And then as soon as I started stopping, goodness grew like a mustard seed.
If that’s true for me, then it is for you, too.
Believe it or not, it really is that simple sometimes.
Stop screwing yourself over.
Just stop.
See what happens.
