The Perfect Picture

What if the most perfect picture isn't the one where everyone looks flawless, but the one where everyone is included? This powerful message challenges us to reconsider what we mean by 'perfect' by examining the genealogy of Jesus himself. When we trace the family line that led to our Savior, we don't find spotless saints—we find Abraham, who fathered a child out of wedlock and created household chaos that would rival any reality TV drama. We find Boaz, the man every single person prays for, whose mother Rahab was a prostitute who made one courageous decision that saved her entire family. We encounter King David, called 'a man after God's own heart,' yet whose household was torn apart by rape, murder, and dysfunction. The uncomfortable truth is that Jesus' family photo includes liars, murderers, prostitutes, kings, slaves, and everything in between. Why does this matter to us? Because we're trying so hard to present a perfect image—cropping out the difficult relatives, hiding the painful chapters, pretending our past doesn't exist. But God doesn't ask us to have a perfect family; He asks us to embrace the real one. The challenge before us is radical: stop hiding who built us, reach out to those we've deleted from our pictures, and recognize that forgiveness isn't about being buddy-buddy—it's about freeing our own hearts. If Jesus could redeem a lineage filled with brokenness, He can certainly work through ours.