"Do you know what passports are? They're an accurate representation of your face. So then you can pass ports. That's what you look like, ok? Deal with it." - Michael McIntyre
Few people like their passport photos. It's a cultural cliché to hate our own and laugh at each other's. But the point of a passport is to be official identification allowing us to travel. It is supposed to look as much like us as possible, because if it doesn't, whoever looks at it might distrust it. And for good reason.
The Bible is sort of like a passport. It accurately reflects us, but very rarely in ways we desire. Every thought we have, every aspect of our personality, when we read the Bible, we often feel convicted. Our theological passport photo is ugly.
But here's the problem we have: If we refuse to show our passport, we don't get to board the plane. If we do show it, we get to. Well, the Bible says if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us. But what if we don't? What if we are like the Pharisees, relying on our own righteousness? Or like the pagans, or even like the atheists, refusing to confess and repent?
Our spiritual passport photo is an accurate representation of our sin, and wow, it is ugly. But as we study His word, it starts to change. We start to "glam up", so to speak, as the Lord begins to shape us in His image. As Christians, when we get to Heaven, our passport photos will look exactly like Jesus' passport photo. We won't be even remotely ashamed of that.