As Christians all of us feel so much pressure to be perfect. We feel the need to be perfect in our love for others so that everyone can feel the love of Christ, we feel the need to act perfectly because other Christians seem too and because if we aren't perfect why would anyone ever feel the need to be Christian, we feel the need to make every decision the right decision because what if we do something that so wrong we can fix it or be fixed? If you do not fall into this train of thought, I apologize for over generalizing. But, I see Christians around me everyday worrying and struggling with this, and I struggle with this myself.
Add this pressure to the pressure we feel everyday as Swatties to do our work right and to be active in extra-curricular activities, this pressure can be over whelming.
What I need a reminder of often, sometimes on a daily basis, which I am now going to remind all of you, is that God doesn't care if we are perfect. God does not care if we make mistakes. God doesn't care if we slip up. God doesn't care if don't understand him sometimes. God doesn't care about any of those things. God just loves us. He loves us no matter how many times we screw up. In God's eyes there is NOTHING that can make us more or less worthy of his love. Do not let this world tell you differently.
So relax and just rest in God's arms.
Spot on. Particularly the last line :)
ReplyDeleteGood thoughts Hannah. I think most Christians struggle with this, including myself. As Christ said himself, He came not for the righteous, but for the sinners. We need to stop worrying about being perfect and just let God love us.
ReplyDeleteI think this is what I also realized recently and it feels so good to be free of the burden of having to "fix" my inadequacy. In the way I heard it, Jesus promises to bear the brunt of our mistakes so that we could carry on doing his work more joyfully rather than with an aching pain somewhere lurking inside. You could almost think of him being a friend that holds on to your yoke while you travel. And when you come back and ask for the yoke back he hides it behind his back and says "What yoke? Does it matter where it is now?" I agree with all of the comments above. God calls us to let go the anxiety of not being perfect and to also celebrate how he is constantly removing the yoke from our shoulders when we happen to find it on the side of the road a while back and try to re-yoke ourselves. Also, Take it from me or any of the above commenters: trying to get comfortable with the yoke or training yourself to be handle it is not a feasible solution. we cannot fix ourselves with our limited abilities nor does it seem like people can be detached enough to distance themselves from their personal problems. I think with all certainty for those of us that have tasted God's goodness that it is much more joyful and productive to give it to God.
ReplyDeleteI have done this and it is a relief, but I still see myself wandering back sometimes and reaching for my old yoke and trying to deal with it on my own. It is a problem that I struggle with but a problem that God is also healing me from.
For those of you that have the same struggle. God is trying to convince you that he already assumed the position of yoke-bearer through his son Jesus Christ. Be convinced please.
This totally resonates with me. I think I've understood fairly well that perfection is impossible and have come to accept that. However, that understanding has been taken to a deeper level in the last few years as I realize the huge extent to which I have fallen short in every area of my life. Every. Single. Part. Difficult. But, this is where God works. I believe that this place of insufficiency and nothingness, this place where we are on our face before God is a place where God can break down our rigid and lifeless self-creations that are constantly striving for dead-end perfection. Here he can grow an identity in Him that is vibrantly alive.
ReplyDeleteHana