King David of ancient Hebrew history was described in the Bible as a man after God’s own heart.
A high-profile hero, bigger than life, he was acclaimed by God — but not because of a perfect life. He made some absolutely terrible decisions, from adultery with Bathsheba to trying to cover it up by arranging the death of her husband in battle.
But when he was confronted with the truth, he humbled himself.
We all stumble and fall. We all blow it. But no one is beyond redemption. We don’t have to let our failures define us. We have the power to write a new ending to our story.
As painful as it is to see good men go down in flames, it can open the door for all of us to look into our inner life and, with the help of others, see a bit of our own authentic truth.
Maybe the fallen leader who owns his indiscretion has actually given us a gift — the inspiration for us to start being more deeply honest with ourselves and with others to reach for help sooner than later.
When we embrace that deeper journey into the truth of our own lives, we can become the “wounded healer” that famous author and theologian Henri Nouwen spoke of.
We can then lead others to discover the kind of freedom and deep inner healing that come only from facing down our darkest demons.
This, I believe — using the words of one of my mentors — is “true spirituality.”
Pause and Reflect
If you are most powerful where you have been most wounded, how could you draw more intentionally on your personal hurts and failures to help others?