Good morning! For those of you who don’t know, I am a self-proclaimed perfectionist. When I put my name on something that I do, it has to be done just right. For instance, a simple email communication for someone else may take a total of five minutes, but for me it may take twenty five minutes. I tend to think about every aspect of the message and how the recipient could possibly interpret the words that I choose.
This is a difficult way to go through life because you can never live up to your own expectations, and if by chance you get close enough to where you are satisfied, that level could never be maintained for a long amount of time. Trust me, I’ve tried!
I have tried to be the best husband, father, son, brother, friend, coworker, neighbor, etc… but the truth is, many times I have come up short. I have lost my temper, raised my voice, judged others, and said things that I didn’t mean (and couldn’t take back) out of anger or a place of hurt.
These are things that I am not proud of and have allowed to eat me alive at times. It’s like I get stuck in an undercurrent; I get disappointed in myself so I go into a shut down mode so I don’t do more damage, but then it affects the way I act towards others and makes things even worse.
This is going to sound horrible, but I really hope someone out there can relate to me LOL! I am so thankful for a God who loved me, even before I loved Him; and the people that God has placed in my life that have loved me, in the times I have been unlovable!
Spoiler alert: The truth is, none of us are perfect! No matter how hard we try, we are going to make mistakes – and that is OK! We are going to say the wrong things, do the wrong things, and think the wrong things; but we can’t continue to live that way!
God requires perfection.
Wait a minute – if none of us are perfect and God requires perfection, are we all doomed? No way! Absolutely not! God made a way through His Son, Jesus Christ, for us to become the righteousness of God!
”God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:21
WOW! There were times as a young boy with lots of brothers, when we would get in trouble and we would never want to fess up to whatever we did. My parents had an ingenious way of dealing with that of course – punish anyone involved until the one who did it came forward and admitted it.
Depending on what the punishment was, normally one of us would admit to doing it, even if we weren’t the one who did it. We would do this so that the punishment would be over – I mean, what’s the sense of multiple people being punished when one person could “take one for the team?”
This would stink for the one who admitted the wrongdoing, but would often allow the others to go back to playing.
So back to my question, are we all doomed? No way – we have all been the recipient of One who has taken our punishment on Himself, and in turn has willingly given us freedom in return. All we have to do is confess our sin, believe in Him, and accept the free gift of salvation – Jesus fulfilling the requirements of God on our behalf!
This is not something we could ever achieve on our own, yet how often do we try to be a “good person” to earn our way into Heaven? Today’s devotional should actually help to relieve you from the pressure you put on yourself, I know it has for me!
I have come to realize that no matter how hard I try, I could never be enough. But when I allow God to take His rightful place as the Lord of my life, He makes me more than enough – not because of me, but all because of Him!
Choosing everyday to walk in relationship with God will help us become more like Him in the way we behave. As we allow Him to shape us, we become less like our old selves and more like His Son!
Heavenly Father, thank You for replacing our sin with Your perfection! Thank You for making the Way to be found righteous in Your eyes! Help us to accept the fact that we are not perfect and could never be, and to accept Your free gift of salvation! Thank Your for taking our imperfection and giving us purpose! In Jesus Name – AMEN!
Be Transformed 