Fixer uppers

He will renew your life (Ruth 4:15).

It’s a familiar complaint—once a woman gets serious about a man, she tries to change him.  She urges him to lose weight, give up smoking, throw away worn-out clothes.  The guy wonders why his lady can’t be satisfied with him just the way he is?

When George Lucas made the first Star Wars movie, he was dissatisfied with the special effects.  Years later, when technical advances revolutionized what you could do on the big screen, Lucas went back and updated his 1977 feature with newer visuals.  Fans of the original were furious, claiming that he had spoiled a masterpiece.

There are two ways you can love something.  You can choose to love it like a precious antique, something that has obvious flaws which you choose to ignore.  In this view, the object of your love will never be better than it was years ago—the best you can do is preserve what remains from further decay.  This is the love of a collector and historian. 

But love doesn’t have to live in the past.  Love can also work towards a better future.  There are guys who buy a car and immediately start fiddling with it. They look for ways to improve performance and handling.  They customize the sound system and detail the bodywork.  Because they love that car, they want to improve it every way they can.

You do the same thing with children.  Parents want their kids to grow into people who are happy and well-adjusted, responsible and successful.  No one respects an adult who behaves like a child.  So we teach and discipline, advise and push our kids to become the best they can possibly be—all because we love them.

God loves us, but not like an antiquarian who loves damaged and worn-out stuff despite obvious flaws.  God loves us like a parent who wants His children to reach their full potential.  God rejects our flaws as distracting and unnecessary; He sent Christ His Son to fix us, refurbish us, give us a bright new shine.  Jesus constantly tinkers with us, optimizing our performance. He loves us as we are, but loves us too much to be satisfied with that. Thanks to the Son of God, you are a work in progress, not an aging relic whose best days have long since passed.