I did a Guerrilla Gospel video last night called "Whatsoever." And the point was, whatsoever you do... do it in love. Do it because its in your heart to do it. And that's really where the rubber meets the road on this idea of letting it be. Because its (somewhat) possible to let things be even though you don't like them. I, for example, am really hard to bother. Unless you mess with my kid. But beyond that, I'm mostly unflappable. But when something DOES bother me, man, its hard for me to not want to "fix" it. Even though just because I don't like something, that doesn't necessarily mean its broken. What's right for you might not be what's right for me. And that's ok. That's the point. But when you love somebody--truly love them--then you won't WANT to change them. That old religious idea that "God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you too much to leave you that way" never made sense to me. Because love doesn't demand its (HIS) own way. So while I absolutely believe that God DOES loves you just the way you are, I don't think its His mission to change you. I don't think He sees you as "bad" and I don't think He needs to get you over to "good." I think God sees you as you truly are. When God looks at you He sees Jesus. And when He looks at Jesus He sees you. So the point is not changing. The point is discovery. Discovering who we are by discovering who Jesus is. Because He is our true identity. And the best part is: He's not hiding! He's revealing Himself to us, and in us, and through us, and as us all of the time! We just have to be willing to let Him. We just need to be still and know that HE is God. I'm telling you, running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to be someone you're not (in order to get something you think you haven't got) is never going to work. Its a lot of work, but labor and works don't work. Its only when you stop trying to be someone you're not, and when you embrace who you really are, that things start to flow. That things start to reveal themselves in Divine Order. And I say "reveal" because things have already been put in Divine Order. That was the cross. Heaven coming to earth. The Messianic rebirth of the world. God conforming us--who we already made in His image--to the image of His Son. His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. That's who we really are. Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh, love in OUR body. And its that love inside us, coming out of us, that allows us to let people be who they are. Whether they think they're righteous, or holy, or unjust, or filthy, or what. It doesn't matter. What you believe is what manifests in your life (either what the world screams at you, or the still, small voice of the Lord). If you believe you're just a dirty sinner, that's how you're going to act. And while I don't believe that's true about you, I can't change you into something that you don't believe you are. All I can do is let you be who you think you are, and show you a more excellent way. Not by shoving Jesus down your throat (and watching you inevitably choke on Him), but by loving you. Loving the hell out of you. Showing you who you really are by showing you who Jesus is. Not because I don't like you and want you to change, but because I love you and want you to experience everything that your heavenly Father has provided for you!

People are going to do what people are going to do. They just are. Always have, always will. So even if you were to look at this idea of Revelation 22:11, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still," even if you were to look at it from a selfish point of view... that's the best way I can think of to avoid drama and frustration. Just rise above it. Let people be who they are. Let them do what they're going to do. Don't try to change people. Because you can't. That's one of the biggest, best, most important things my pastor ever taught me. And thankfully he taught it to me right when I was starting my ministry. Because if I came into ministry (or anything, really, any relationship) with the idea of needing to change people... well, its no wonder we see religious folk get worn out. Its no wonder we see people--ministers especially--burn out. Because if you're trying to change people you're GOING to burn yourself out. A whole lot of effort with nothing to show for it. And, listen, I get it. If you apply enough pressure you might see some limited results. If you scare someone badly enough they might stop doing what you don't want them to do. For a little while. As long as you're right there. But people are who they are. At the end of the day change can ONLY come from the inside. From knowing and believing that the love of God is inside, and from filling yourself to overflowing with that love that you've already been filled with. That's how we BE transformed into what we've already BEEN transformed into. Its by the renewing of OUR mind. And I emphasized "our" because I can't renew YOUR mind. Its yours. You're going to do whatever it is you're going to do with it. And, I kind of mentioned this in the other 2 parts of this Rant series, one of the hardest things in life is having the answer and watching it fall on deaf ears. Or having someone tell you after its too late that they figured out what you were talking about. So like I said, even from a selfish point of view, letting it be is smart. But even more so from a selfless point of view. Because if you're constantly trying to change someone, you aren't loving them. Love doesn't demand its (HIS) own way. Love loves no matter what. Unconditionally. Love loves because that's its (HIS) nature. YOUR nature. So you don't have to transform anybody else. It doesn't matter if they receive what you're giving. The reward of a deed well done is in the doing. If you've loved, then you've done your part. Do your best and forget the rest. If someone's mean, and your strategy is to be nice SO THAT they will be nice... you're setting yourself up for failure. Because while I believe we should absolutely kill people with kindness... they aren't always (or ever) going to respond the way we think they should. So your strategy should be to be nice. Period. And if they return your kindness with kindness... that's just the icing on the cake. But you can't MAKE people be nice. You can't make people ANYTHING. If your whole deal is controlling people, well, you're going to have a rough time with it. But if your whole deal is loving people no matter what... that makes it easy. Simple. And, quite frankly, that makes it worth it. That makes life worth living. And that makes life possible to live!

Love does not demand its (HIS) own way. Which is another way of saying love is unconditional. Which is another way of saying we ought to let people be who they are... and love them anyway. Let me make this as simple as I can: Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. And we are to love one another as He loves us. So if nothing can separate us from Him... nothing should separate us from each other either. All of these slights (most of them imagined, really) that we put between us... its the exact opposite of relationship. We're out here building walls to keep us from each other when we're supposed to be building bridges. Look at Romans 13:8, "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." You know, the perfect law of liberty. The New Command, for the New Man. Again, loving others as Jesus loves us. Receiving and releasing the love of God. Filling ourselves to overflowing with what we've been filled with. That's what this abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of God (life of LOVE) is all about. Because to live is to love and to love is to live. You can't have one without the other. You can't DO one without the other. Because they are not just connected, they are the same thing. And (once more) love is unconditional. As soon as you demand something from someone, you've set yourself up for failure, and frustration. Because people are going to do what they're going to do no matter how you feel about it. Even my son, Logan, who tries harder than anybody I've ever met to NOT get in trouble... even Logan does things that he KNOWS I don't want him to do. Not many, and not often, but it happens. And the father/son relationship is a little bit different than most other relationships. Because at his ripe old age of six, his buck stops with me. I'm responsible for him. Because he's mine. But even still, the BEST I can do is follow Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." And I think the key there is the word "should." Don't always crush people with the weight of what they shouldn't do. Don't tell people what's wrong with them. Build people up. Edify them. Show them--and I say SHOW because seeing is believing, and if they SEE you do it... that's a lot more powerful than "do what I say, not what I do"--Show them what they SHOULD do. Model it for them. One of the smartest things I think I ever did with Logan was make him a deal that says, "If you hear ME say it, YOU can say it." Because I keep my mouth pretty clean. I keep my words soft and sweet if at all possible. Especially around my kid. Point being, it doesn't matter what else he hears, or where he hears it from. He knows what's ok because he has a role model. Someone, again, who is responsible for him. So I guess its the difference between demanding your own way (good luck with that) and showing a more excellent way. And let me just say this to close it up for today: Don't ever beg for anything. Because if you have to beg... even if you get it... its not worth it. Gifts are freely given. They can't be earned. If someone doesn't want to give freely, don't even bother with it. You're better off without it. It might not seem like it when it seems like the one thing you want is the one thing you can't have. But trust me. Don't beg. It isn't worth it. Let it be.

Yes, one of my favorite Beatles songs. And yes, I understand that there are some things that we should NOT stand for. You know the old saying, "If you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything." But when it comes to relationships we really should follow the words of Revelation 22:11, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still." In other words, when it comes to people... let it be. And, as always, I'm not saying you should put yourself in, or allow yourself to stay in, a bad situation. Love doesn't mean letting people continually abuse you. And chances are, in that kind of situation, you're doing more harm than help by staying in it. When you grab a rope, you hurt your hand more by holding on than by letting go. And here's the problem: We think we can change people. When, in fact and in truth, we really really can't. People are going to be who they're going to be and people are going to do what they're going to do. I've even seen first hand that sometimes when you offer someone a more excellent way... they can't always receive it. Sometimes the timing isn't right. And I can't tell you how frustrating it is to HAVE the answer, but to have it fall on deaf ears. To tell someone something over and over again and then later on, when its too late for you to enjoy the fruit of your labor so to speak, for them to tell you, "I really get what you were trying to say." I mean, that's great. Some plant, and some water, but its God who gets the harvest right? So all of your sowing wasn't in vain. But at the same time... I'm glad you're figuring it out, but does it always have to happen AFTER I'm gone? Maybe. But my point for this Rant series is not about banging your head against the wall and coming away with nothing but a headache. My point for this Rant series is that you can't force help on people. You can't force change on people. And the harder you try the more frustrated you'll be. So just... let it be. If someone doesn't fit into your box of who or what they should be... get over it. Love them anyway, even if that means doing it from a distance. Because if you're trying to help someone that doesn't want your help... it's not going to go well. Its really not. And here's the passage that I've been kind of grabbing at for a little while now. Its in the love chapter. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 in the New Living Translation: "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged." Love does not demand its own way. God does not demand HIS own way. God will TELL you the way. Look at the people of Israel in the Old Testament. Over and over again God told them what was up. And over and over again they did what they wanted to do. And, yes, they reaped the consequences of their actions. But God never left them nor forsook them. He was always right there, waiting for them to give Him the opportunity to do what He does. And what He does, every time all of the time, is love. So no matter what someone does, that's what we can do. Every time. All of the time. We can love. We can let people be who they are and we can love them regardless. Because love, by nature, is unconditional. Let people be who they are. And let love be who HE is!

Seeing things from another point of view. Walking a mile in someone else's shoes. Not necessarily the easiest thing to do all the time. But kind of important when it comes to the idea of loving people. Because love does not demand its (HIS) own way. Love lets people be who they are and do what they're going to do. And love doesn't keep a record of wrongs. I've heard people--religious people no less!--use this one, "I'll forgive, but I'm never going to forget." And, being the super empath that I am, I can see where they're coming from. Burn me once, shame on you. But burn me twice, shame on ME. Right? Because at that point I should have known better. After getting burned you oughta learn not to touch the fire anymore. But there's a pretty interesting verse in the old Bible that says, "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more" (Hebrews 8:12). In fact, this is repeated almost word for word a few chapters later in Hebrews 10:17, "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." And if you link this idea with Micah 7:19, "He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea," we get the idea of the sea of forgetfullnes. That's where our sins and iniquities are. So my question has always been, "If God has forgetten about them, why do WE keep bringing them up?" Why are we always on a sin hunt instead of righteousness hunt? Why do we kick people when they're down and tell them what's wrong with them instead of reaching down and helping them up and telling them what's right with them? I think part of it is because misery loves company. We mess up, but we don't want to feel like we're the only ones capable of messing up, so we joy in the mess ups of others. But remember our verse in Romans 12:15? "Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep." We're supposed to connect with people. That's what we were created to do--to be loved, and to love each other with that love. To have relationships. That's what life is all about. Because that's what life IS. To live is to love and to love is to live. But you can't connect with someone when you're rejoicing when someone is weeping. And chances are, you understand WHY they're weeping. So rather than being happy that it happened to someone else... you ought to be happy that it happened to you, and because it did happen to you you can help them through it. We are blessed to be a blessing. And we go through things so we can help people through those same things. So my point is, maybe we should cast our own sins into that sea of forgetfullnes. Maybe we should stop letting our past hold us back and define us. Maybe we should stop judging everything by how it looks to us, and maybe we should try to see how it looks to someone else. See it from their point of view. Have some empathy. That's the more excellent way of love. Not expecting someone to feel a certain way, or act a certain way, but understanding how they feel. Understanding why they are acting the way they are acting. And, in understanding it, we can actually, you know, help them. Which is always my test: Is what I'm doing helping or hurting? Well, if you seek first to understand, you'll be able to do more helping and less hurting. You'll be able to love people the way THEY need to be loved!

I don't like to start a Rant with a memory verse, or a definition. So I usually point out how I don't like to do it... then do it. Like so: Dictionary.com defines "empathy" as, "the psychological identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another." Basically, putting yourself in someone else's place in order to understand what they're going through. Which can be hard to do, when we can't get past our own, well, past. As long as we continue to let our past define us, hold us back, we will never be able to move forward. And we will certainly never be able to have a healthy relationship with anybody. Because instead of seeing things from THEIR point of view, we will constantly frame everything they do (or don't do) through OUR point of view. That's what I was trying to say with my example of being cheated on and then thinking everybody in every relationship is cheating on everybody else. That's not a good, or healthy, way to look at things. Because here's the deal: Life happens. And not all of it goes exactly the way we think it should. Which is why we cling to verses like Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." And, in my opinion, rightly so. We should cling to verses like this. Because we all go through stuff. But the key word is THROUGH. And remember how we saw that the best way to grin and bear it is to bear each other's burdens? Help each other through it. That's WHY we got through stuff--to learn and grow, and to be able to help each other through what we've been through. So this idea of vicariously experiencing what others are going through, well, a lot of the time we know exactly what people are going through. Because we've been there, done that, got the t-shirt. And yet we still tend to look down on people for going through the exact kinds of things we've been through. Boggles my mind. Because the stuff we go through is common to man. Nobody is reinventing the wheel over here. We're all doing what we can do to get from the start of the day to the end of the day. So why, when we see someone who has stumbled and fallen, do we think that's a great opportunity to kick them when they're down? Why isn't it our first instinct to reach down and help them up? Well, because hurting people hurt people. And if nobody helped us up we don't see why we should help anybody up. An eye for an eye, right? "I made it through, so can they!" Well. Ok. If you're reading this you've survived 100% of the things that have happened in your life. But I can guarantee you you didn't do it alone. You might not know sometimes all of the things people do for you behind the scenes. The things your heavenly Father does for you through people that you don't even know about. My point is: You've probably been where they are right now. And if you haven't, you can still have empathy. You can still see it from their point of view. And either way, most importantly, you can love them. You can help them. Hurting people hurt people, but loved people love people. Break the cycle. Nobody helped you? Then you know what it feels like. Don't put someone else through that. Pull them out of it. Love the hell out of them. Show them that there is a more excellent way, and His name is Jesus. His name... is love!

When you can see something from someone else's point of view, that's when you truly begin to understand them. And I've said this many times you before--you can't love someone (or something) that you don't understand. Because love doesn't demand its (HIS) own way. And unless you understand where someone's coming from, your natural inclination is to look at them, or their situation, or what have you, through the lens of your own experience. For example: If you've been cheated on, its so easy to assume that everybody is a cheater. If you've been lied to, its that much harder to trust people. And then you extend that past yourself onto everyone else. Because what's inside DOES come out. It has to. So if you've been cheated on, and your friend is telling you about the problems they are having with their significant other... chances are you'll jump to the assumption that your friend is getting cheated on. Because that's what you know. That's your experience. But empathy is taking YOUR experience out of it and seeing things from another point of view. Understanding that just because you went through something doesn't necessarily mean everybody else is going through that same thing. And, look, I get it. We do all go through a lot of the same things. This human existence is very personal, but it is also very universal. 1 Corinthians 10:13, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." And, real quick, "way to escape" means "go out." Or go through it. Bear it. And the best way to bear something... is with a little help from your friends. "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2). Which, again, is the whole point. We go through things so we can learn and grow, and so we can help others as they go through those same things. "Common to man" right? We're all just people. For the most part trying to get from the start of the day to the end of the day so we can do it all over again tomorrow. And its not always easy. The hardest part of life is living. But the most important part of life is just showing up. Loving people. Relationships. Connection. Helping yourself BY helping others. Loving God BY loving others. Bearing each other's burdens and in that way helping each other get through what we're all going through. But do you know what sabotages that every time? Judging people with anything except righteous judgment. And righteous judgment is executing the judgment that God passed down to Jesus on the cross. Not killing Him, but bringing Him back to life. Not kicking people when they're down, but pulling them up. Understanding that we've all been there, or will be there, and probably will be there again. So instead of pointing out what's wrong with people, we ought to build them up by telling them the truth--tell them what's RIGHT with them. RIGHTeous judgment. Mercy. Forgiveness. Grace. Understanding. Empathy. "Man, you really messed up." They already know they messed up. So maybe, "What can I do to help?" Maybe understand WHY they messed up and then you'll be able to really help instead of just making things worse. Seek first to understand, then to help!

This is the verse that I had in mind when I decided to write this Rant series about empathy, "Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep" (Romans 12:15). Because, basically, that's what empathy is. Its getting down to someone's level. Not expecting anything from them, but standing by them as they go through whatever it is they're going through. That's how you build relationships. That's how you connect with people. It drives me crazy--and I'm REALLY hard to bother--when people try to tell other people how they should feel. "That's not something to get upset about." Really? Because I'm upset about it. So now you're saying my feelings aren't valid. And when you refuse to validate someone's feelings... you've lost them. Why would I even listen to you at all when you're telling me I'm wrong about what I feel? I can't suddenly stop feeling the way I feel... but now you're making me feel bad about how I feel. So now I'm stuck. I'm upset about what happened, and now I'm even more upset because I'm not "supposed" to be upset. Thanks for the escalation. Where's the understanding though? Where's the compassion? If I'm upset, can't you just let me be upset? If I need to vent, can't you just let me vent? I ALWAYS tell people, "feel what you feel... but don't let it control you." Because its ok to be upset. But its not ok to throw a fit. And I'm convinced that people scream because they want to be heard. If you dismiss someone, chances are they will either shut down, or they will be louder. Flight or fight, right? I keep coming back to that. When really all they needed was for someone to say, "I hear you. I get it. I understand." They needed someone to weep with them when they were weeping. Someone to let them know that they're ok--even if they're upset. And, again, this is kind of my nature as that middle child. That peacemaker. I want to de-escalate things. I want to keep things on an even keel. Get it back to good. This very morning on the way to school/work Logan and I needed to take a minute to recalibrate because we were getting upset. Point being: Life happens. Every single day. Things don't always go your way. And if you try to repress your emotions, what you really do is just bottle them up until they explode. That's not healthy. Nobody--including our heavenly Father--wants a bunch of emotionless robots running around. And I like the contrast in our memory verse between rejoicing and weeping. Because you really can't have one without the other. If everything was "amazing" nothing would be. And I'm not talking about an emotional rollercoaster either, where you're constantly up and then down and then up and then down. There has to be some balance. But that's where our loved ones come in. They can KEEP us balanced. They can weep with us when we're weeping, and then they can offer that hand to help us up. You can connect with someone without getting yourself stuck there. You can pull people up instead of letting them pull you down. But the first step is loving them right where they're at. Letting them feel how they feel. And feeling it (to some degree at least) with them. Letting them know that it might not feel like it right this second, but it WILL be ok. Not demanding that they BE ok right this second, but offering a glimpse at the light at the end of the tunnel. More tomorrow.

This one is easy for me, because for whatever reason I can almost always see both sides. Its not a hard thing for me to walk a mile in someone else's shoes. But I also think its vitally important. Because the purpose of walking a mile in someone else's shoes is understanding them. Remember I keep saying, "Seek first to understand"? Well, I got that from the seven habits of leaders at my kid's elementary school. And the entire habit goes like this, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." In other words, put others first. Don't come is swinging, trying to make things the way you think they should be all the time. Love doesn't demand its (HIS) own way, right? And, it should go without saying, I'm NOT saying you shouldn't stand for things. If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. But there's a diference between standing FOR something, and always being AGAINST things. There's a difference between doing what you need to do for you, and forcing your ideas on others. I have never had even the smallest inclination to make people believe what I believe. In fact, other than my books, and Rants, and videos... I usually don't even tell people what I believe. Even if you ask me I'm going to take a minute to decide whether I think you actually want to know... or if you want to argue about it. Because if you want to argue about it, well, I don't. But my point is, you can believe what you want and still fellowship with people who don't agree. And that's even if you DON'T have empathy towards them. That's even if you have no interest in seeing where they're coming from. You can still love people no matter what. Can... and should. But, as always, there's a more excellent way. Seeking to understand is how we make connections with people. And, again, you don't have to agree in order to understand. Let me drop some Bible on this Rant. "To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might be all means save some" (1 Corinthians 9:22). That's just a snippet of the passage, and we'll probably get deeper into it in the next couple of days. But I wanted that "all things to all men" phrase. Because you can't reach everybody the same way. I have a certain few people in my life that I can text a memory verse to and it will really help. And I have a lot of other people in my life that I can text funny pictures to and THAT will help. Its about knowing who you're dealing with. Understanding people. Playing to your audience, if I can say it that way. And that doesn't mean the message changes. The message is love. But people love in different ways, and they receive love in different ways. So you need to meet them where they're at. That's what Paul was saying in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 more than anything else. He was urging us to have some empathy. To stop judging people and start loving people. Remember when he wrote about not eating certain things in order to keep a brother from stumbling? Even though his own conviction was that everything is good to eat once its been blessed. But his point was to put others first. Don't do something that will offend someone else. Be kind (please rewind). Think about it from their point of view. Be selfless instead of selfish. Christ-centered (PEOPLE-centered) instead of self-centered. Have some understanding. Make a connection. And in that way love people better!

I've been purposefully neglecting part of our key verse for this Rant series, because I knew I wanted to focus on it today to wrap the thing up. "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" (Matthew 5:9). And its that first word that I want to focus on. "Blessed." It's number 3107 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "supremely blest; by extension fortunate, well off: - blessed, happy." And the part I like best about that definition is the last word. "Happy." Happy because we are bringing (or making) peace to a chaotic situation... and happy because we are called (or identified as) the Son(s) of God. Hard to be more well off than that. There's a sign at work that says, "the reward of a job well done is in the doing." And I see it every day. And I think, every day, "that's what love is all about." Love isn't about how someone reacts to what you do. If you're trying to get a reaction, then its not love at all. Because love is never about getting anything. Because love is giving. But when it comes to making peace there IS a reaction. Peace. A de-escalation in many cases. Remember how we've been talking about the two results to pushing someone? Either they push back, or they fall over. And neither of those is probably what you really want. Maybe in that moment of emotion, or anger, you want to do some damage. But that's not love. Love isn't an emotional response. Love is decision. Choosing to break the cycle. Choosing to turn the other cheek. Choosing to be a thermostat (and set the temperature) instead of being a thermometer (and merely take the temperature). And while the point of making peace is to reveal things in divine order, this happiness that goes with it is a pretty awesome... let's call it icing, on the cake. For a lot of my life there were three of us. My older brother, me, and my younger brother. And you know how that goes. The oldest is the practice child. The youngest is the baby. And the middle child is the peacemaker. The one who, at least in my lingo, says, "Save the drama for your mama." Because I wanted a calm house. That's what made me happy. Still does. So I get this fringe benefit of being extremely fortunate, AND I get to be an improvement to other people's lives. Almost like when Jesus said He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. As Son(s) of God we are in a position to help others have it better. I mean, we are blessed to be a blessing, right? In order to live out of our abundance we must HAVE abundance. You can't give what you don't have, right? So if you're giving peace, making peace, that means you HAVE peace. Otherwise you couldn't give it, or make it. Let me drop one more memory verse to close this out: "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace" (Psalm 37:37). That man is Jesus. And as He is, so are we in this world. When we understand who He is, we understand who we are. And the end of that perfect man is peace. Knowing who you really are is really peaceful. Because you don't have to try to be someone you're not in order to get something you think you haven't got. You know who you are. You know what you've got. Peace flows out of you and you are extremely, completely blessed!