Just Because.

Two, simple, everyday language kind of words: just and because. I’m not even talking about the just of justice. I’m talking about the adverb we use all the time, the just that means: simply. And I’m not going to start talking about because, because you know what it means.

And yet the power they behold once put together into a phrase: just because. 

I’ve heard it too many times. Just because.. 

You are a woman, therefore you are weak. 

You are of a certain race, therefore you don’t belong. 

You are not a size zero, therefore you are to be ashamed. 

You are single, therefore you are to be pitied. 

You dress in a certain way that’s different, therefore you are ugly. 

You are not as rich, therefore you are less and below others. 

You have done many bad things, therefore you are unworthy to be loved.

You messed up, therefore you are a disgraceful mess.

It goes on, and on, and on.

An endless chant of shame, of rejection, of envy and of guilt. It’s too loud and clear, the message our world is telling our generation is this: 

Just because you are being exactly who you are, 

therefore you will never be enough. 

And the worst part of it all, I believe the extension of the message goes to say that: Since you will never be good enough, you are to do your best to be someone else that is already accepted and leave who you are at rest. 

I was a part of that just because, and in fact I still fall into it many times. And I’m saddened by how powerful these statements can be when spoken over people’s self-worth and identity. Because they are not true. Because they are simply an expression of how broken and disappointed our world has become, how desperate we are to encounter a love that nullifies all the pain humanity has come to know. 

For me, in my walk with Christ, I come to learn there is only one just because that has the right to rule over my life. For me, it sums up the kind of position I should take in times of calamities and uncertainties, which is to be at rest and know God is in control. And that just because is this: 

Just because God loves me, therefore I have all I need. 

(John 3:16; Psalms 23:1)

I wonder if we start to walk our lives with the mindset that we are valued and accepted by an unfailing, unending love. Replace the world’s common just because(s) with God’s truth and promises. Turn our complains into cries of prayer and acts of worship. If we do this, I know for sure that what was an endless chant of shame, will become an endless declaration of grace.