Perfect, sometimes!

 

I somewhat classify myself as a perfectionist. I am not necessarily proud of that fact. And the older I get the more tolerant I am of less than perfect people, behaviors, and workmanship. Is that a good thing? I would have to say, “yes.” I say that because it is obvious that perfection is a standard that NO ONE can meet, at least those people that aren’t the SAVIOR OF THE WORLD! 

I mostly struggle with this need for perfection within myself. I am way more tolerant of other people’s flaws and failures than I am my own. I say this while I realize I can also have unrealistic expectations of others. (If you have felt that from me in the past, PLEASE FORGIVE ME!) The one thing that keeps me grounded with more realistic expectations is my faith. I am SOOOO very glad God does not expect perfection from me and the more I dwell on this blessing, the more I realize I don’t need to jump in and expect more than God! 

I have been exploring the book of Romans this week and one of the more famous scriptures popped up in my study today:

“But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned, we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet, God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.” (Romans 3:21-24)

We are freed from the penalty of our sins. Thank you Lord!

So, in reality we are all made perfect through Jesus OR we will all be totally condemned because as I read yesterday, if we choose, God will just let us do what we want. He will let us wallow in our imperfections if that is what we want. But, when we do that, we reject all the good things about God’s grace, mercy, and love. We can’t be left alone to our failures and still receive God’s justice and righteousness. 

I am so thankful I no longer have to be perfect, while at the same time I can still strive for the perfection modeled by Jesus himself while he was on earth. I can’t wait to arrive in eternity with Jesus and be in the presence of that perfection for the rest of my life.  

“‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

And to borrow a scripture from tomorrow’s reading:

“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.” (Romans 5:8-9)