You are complete in Him. Colossians 2:10 NKJV
In the movie Jerry Maguire, Jerry (Tom Cruise) tells Dorothy (Renée Zellweger), “You complete me.” Now, you may find that remarkably romantic or it may make you laugh, but that quote has made quite a mark. Wherever you look for a list of favorite and famous movie love quotations, you’ll likely find it.
What’s the heart and mentality behind the statement? The thought is that we are empty and lonely without a partner, and life takes on meaning when we find our “person.” But it ignores the fact that you can find your “person” and be totally loved and love in return and still have an inexplicable loneliness and emptiness from time to time. It also implies that a single person for life is missing a necessary piece for wholeness. And, if your person dies (one of you eventually will), are you now no longer able to be whole?
Perhaps the most damaging part of this romantic fantasy is giving another human the power to make your life whole. If they have that power, they can also destroy your life. Another person is meant to complement your life, not create or complete it. If you are looking for “completing” in a relationship with someone else, you are setting yourself up for failure, and setting the scenario to hurt and be hurt.
The only One capable of completing you is your Creator and Savior. As you choose to follow Jesus and grow in Him, you will find yourself complete. You will grow into the person you were created to be, always complete, and growing more and more in the joy of it. As you are complete in Him, that means …
- You are complete and wonderfully loved. You are not half a person.
- You are not missing out on anything God has for you if you are faithfully following.
- Any person who makes you feel less than is not the person for you. A whole and complete person needs another whole and complete person.
- Expecting another person to meet needs only Jesus can fill is unfair and destructive.
- Being “a party of one” is always okay because you really are always a part of TWO, and Jesus will never leave you stranded.
- A healthy relationship is not two halves making a whole; it is two complete people becoming exponentially more together in Christ.