Today it is easier than ever to create an image of yourself that seems much cooler than you really are. All you have to do is post a few good pictures, a couple choice status updates and announce a handful of key connections on your Facebook profile and you can instantly appear as your best version of yourself.

None of your friends from high school, or that small town where you grew up, have to know anything about your bad hair days, your constant struggle to lose that "freshman fifteen" you put on in college, or the reality that you have no clue what you want to do with your life.

In a world where it's easier than ever to be connected we have lost the vulnerability and authenticity that make relationships worth having. We've exchanged community for a show. We have so bought into the concept of presenting a certain image of ourselves that we believe that a girl with a beautiful voice who sings songs in churches can never amount to anything if she doesn't get a stylist and personal trainer to help her out. We work harder, dream bigger and try to morph ourselves into people we aren't, all so we can feel good about ourselves.

But that is never what God intended for us. That's why the Bible is full of stories of people who stumbled and fell, struggled with sin, and didn't have all the answers. Their imperfections are what made them need grace — and it was against the backdrop of their lives that God's glory illuminated brightly.

By aiming for perfection, and trying to eliminate the need for grace in our lives, we are subconsciously trying to erase our need for a Savior. That's why the harder we work the further away from God we actually feel.

In 2 Corinthians 12:10 the apostle Paul writes, "...for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

The next time you have a dream you think you can't achieve or you're tempted to paint a perfect picture of yourself on Facebook, remember it's the weaknesses, the imperfections — the things you can't accomplish on your own — that give God the opportunity show off in your life.

When we accept our place as broken and imperfect people, God finally has the opportunity to shine brightly in our lives. Living lives that point others to Him is what gives us purpose. So, ironically, it's in the moments of seeming failure that we are of the most use in the kingdom of God.