Are You Drowning In Your Imperfection?

We're all imperfect.

No, seriously.

I'm not afraid to admit it. We're all imperfect humans, who can never live up to what other humans want us to be. Moreover, we can never live up to Christ. However, this is no excuse. We should be striving to be like Him every day, as much as we possibly can. Although we know we'll never be exactly like Christ, we can get very close. (Okay, no, not even very close. But we can all improve.)

So it's time for a song evaluation: "Imperfection" by Skillet.

When I first heard this song, I simply thought it was talking about how our physical appearances can never be what everyone wants them to be. Like how we can't all look like we just jumped off the cover of a magazine. But when I listened to it further, I started to understand a little bit more.

"You're worth so much
It'll never be enough
To see what you have to give"

Let's just stop it right there. You're worth so much. To see what you have to give. It sounds as if the song is speaking to someone with a low self-esteem, possibly. Someone who doesn't understand that they have been created in the image of God, and that they're not inferior to anyone.

"How beautiful you are
You seem so far
From everything you're wanting to be
Wanting to be"

Here's where the whole physical appearance issue really kicks in. They simply don't see that they are where they should be. Perhaps their expectations are simply ridiculous.

"Tears falling down again
Tears falling down..."

As they cry out, it seems as if no one can heal their mental wounds.

"You fall to your knees
You beg, you plead
Can I be somebody else
For all the times I hate myself?
Your failures devour your heart
In every hour, you're drowning
In your imperfection"

This person hates every inch of themselves. All their failures are telling them that they can't do anything right. All they want is to be someone else; someone who can succeed. Little do they know all they're accomplishing.

"You're worth so much
That heaven would touch
The face of humankind for you"

This verse has always confused me a little bit. I'm actually not really sure what to think of it. Any ideas?

"How special you are
Revel in your day
You're fearfully and wonderfully made
You're wonderfully made"

Haha. Wow. This verse pretty much throws the meaning of the song right in our faces. No matter how tiny, unimportant, and worthless we think we are, we should know that we were created in the image of God! That we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Made to serve, love, and give.

"Tears falling down again
Come let the healing begin..."

Be healed from the poison that has penetrated your skin!

You fall to your knees
You beg, you plead
Can I be somebody else
For all the times I hate myself?
Your failures devour your heart
In every hour, you're drowning
In your imperfection

"You're worth so much
So easily crushed
Wanna be like everyone else"

This poor person just wants to fit in. They want to feel wanted. They want to feel accepted. They want to feel like something.

"No one escapes
Every breath we take
Dealing with our own skeletons, skeletons"

If we keep telling ourselves that we're worth nothing, we'll never escape. We'll always have this feeling with us, and soon enough, it will destroy is. This feeling is the cause of so much depression, self injury, and even suicide. We have to learn while we're ahead that we are worth something! God made us all for a reason!

You fall to your knees
You beg, you plead
Can I be somebody else
For all the times I hate myself?
Your failures devour your heart
In every hour, you're drowning
In your imperfection

"Won't you believe, yeah
Won't you believe, yeah
All the things I see in you"

This person can't see what they're worth. But the singer (and a whole lot of other people) can. We can see what that person's life is for. We know that there's something to it; more than they'll ever see.

"You're not the only one
You're not the only one
Drowning in imperfection"

They're not alone in these thoughts. So many people suffer from the poison of low self esteem, and not seeing what we're here for; I being one of them.

The song sends chills up my spine. It makes me want to cry, thinking about how deeply people feel this hurt. Much more than I do, I'm sure. To feel like there's absolutely no point to living... It has to be harsh.

There's my thoughts. Here's what John Cooper (lead singer of Skillet) has to say about the song (I just found this a couple seconds ago... I did not read it before my evaluation. ;]):

"It's written for those people that just feel that they're worthless and never going to amount to anything and maybe they were a mistake, they're not who they want to be and they hate themselves. It's kind of like written towards a friend actually, you know, someone who you know that you can see all the really good things in them but they can't seem them... they think that they're the only ones struggling with their humanity and Imperfection is a song saying that everybody feels that way but you do have so much to offer and so much to give the world, so much love to share. You know, you need to be who you really are, don't worry about these things."

Sounds like I was pretty close; it's about feeling worthless. About not knowing that there is a purpose for all of us.

For all of you out there with low- or no- self esteem. For all of you out there who think you're worthless. For all of you out there who think there's no point to living. You are worth something. I love you, I think you're beautiful, and I know there's a point to your life. Never forget that you're here for a reason.

And that you're not the only one drowning in your imperfection.