I have a confession to make. I care entirely too much what you think. Think about that for a minute. I don't even know exactly who you are. I don't know who is reading this blog. I do know, however, that I spend way too much time and energy worrying about what other people think about what I say or do - or even write.
And that is wrong.
Why is it we will trust God to give us grace and mercy the minute we receive forgiveness and ask Him to be Lord of our lives yet we somehow translate that to mean we miraculously become the perfect woman? Come on, now. I am being totally transparent with you. It is your turn. Be honest with yourself - and with God. Haven't you at some point made the commitment to be the perfect wife or mother? daughter or employee? servant or neighbor? There is no "or" to it. Society demands that we "bring home the bacon AND fry it up in a pan" AND keep the house immaculate AND raise the kids to be perfect AND spend quality time with your husband AND minister to your neighbors .... exhausting ... perfection is exhausting and frustrating and downright depressing.
Not to mention totally impossible.
And wrong.
God never called us to be perfect. There isn't one verse in the Bible that commands us to be perfect. We are commanded to love one another as ourselves. We are commanded to have an intimate relationship with Him. We are commanded to tell others about how He died for them. But we are never commanded to be perfect. WE are the ones who picked up that very heavy burden and WE are the ones who insist on carrying it around everywhere we go.
HE has said HE has BEGUN a good work in us but HE won't complete it until the day of judgement. So when I worry about what you think about me, I am sinning because I am looking at you and not at Him. I am taking my guidance from what I "think" you approve of instead of what really counts - what pleases Him.
So I have an announcement.
I am NOT perfect.
I am NOT the perfect mother, wife, grandmother, mother-in-law, daughter, servant ... and that is ok because
I AM His masterpiece in progress.
And furthermore, I care about you, but I don't care so much what you think of me anymore.
I am laying down my baggage of perfection at Jesus' feet and submitting to His will so be forewarned
I will fall - but He will pick me up.
I will fail - but His grace is sufficient.
For I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me - but I can do nothing on my own!!!
Wow!!! You are SO right! I appreciate your honesty. This is a huge issue! HUGE!!!
ReplyDeleteI know cuz I just got a spray tan....why? Because I care what people think of me and I am done with my days in the sun. And then I turned orange and then I cared that people would think that I cared what they thought of me because it was now so obvious that I cared because I was orange! And to top it all off my daughter told my my feet looked like oompa-loompas:/
I am beginning to care less and less what people think but God used this to shine His light of truth on my shortcomings. Then He so extended His grace to me so that I really don't mind sharing this story with you!
Thanks for your honesty! SO true in SOOOO many ways!
Amy, you make me laugh! (I'm sure your feet do NOT look like oompa-loompas!) But you are so right on. We care, but we don't want anyone to know just how much we care. You also make another very valid point - the journey toward not caring so much what other people think is all a part of our journey toward growth and maturity in Him. Thanks, Amy. Wish I had been there for all of your study on Grace for the Good Girl!!
DeleteThere is a verse of the Bible that commands us to be perfect. It is Matt 5:48, which says, "Be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect." The word perfect in this verse means complete. I used to read this verse with the wrong eyes, because I didn't understand that God would give me the power to be made perfect. I know this verse, because I strived to obtain this verse in my own power and strength. It was impossible of course, but in Christ's power, it is possible.
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about your post and Amy's comments for a while now, because I don't think the goal is to recognize our sin, the one that cares about what others think, and keep doing things that show we in fact do care what others think. When God shows us our sins, gives us knowledge of our wrongs, He says, "Go and sin no more." And He gives the power and strength not to do it. The goal of grace is really to transform us into completeness and perfection. Now I think perfection looks a lot different than we think it does. It doesn't mean that you will never hurt someone feelings or do what we humans consider mistakes. It means we grow in His image.
When I reread the post and noticed what you'd said about being perfect, and I thought that command in and of itself validates when I meant by being changed and transformed by His grace. Bit by bit, we conform into His image. And when we are okay with conformity to the world, we have to check out our relationship with Him and submit those things to Him, making ourselves willing to let go and be made complete or perfect.
Thank you for your comments, Jamie. We are actually saying the same thing; however, I think there may be a little bit of confusion about my reference to perfection. Too many times we as Children of God accept His grace at the time of salvation, but for various reasons we set it aside for our daily walk. We fall into the trap of living up the WORLD'S DEFINITION OF PERFECTION that sets unrealistic goals that God never intended for us. When we set our minds and hearts on meeting society's expectations, we are taking our eyes off of God, and this is a sin. We are putting the world and even ourselves before Him and His goal for our lives. True to the characteristics of our modern day society, this type of perfection is to be achieved NOW. There is no room for error! There is no forgiveness for not being PERFECT. If we are not careful, this type of perfection becomes in the least a stumbling block and possibly even an idol.
ReplyDeleteGod's perfect - as you pointed out - is found in Matthew. God wants to perfect us - to complete us. In the Greek form this refers to a maturing. I understand this to be like nurturing a flower to bloom. Like you stated, our goal is to be more like Him or to bloom per se. We sin - weeds crop up. He takes His hoe - His grace - and removes them. He takes His grace - fertilizer - and nurtures us. This perfection is a process achieved over time and only through God's grace. We will not, however, be perfect, or bloom, until we see Him face to face. And oh, what glorious blossoms we will be then - His masterpieces!!!!
So you see, we are saying the same thing; we are just referring to two different things. Perhaps my post was not clear. My post was cautioning us all to not look at the world's view of perfection but to rely on God's grace to mold us. I hope this and my next post help clear up any misunderstandings.
~Robin Kelley
Hey Robin,
DeleteI want to be clear that you were clear. :) We were saying the same things! :) I was just speculating and noticed what you said about being commanded to be perfect. I use too many words sometimes. You are a great writer and I understood what you meant. I was just trying to discuss my own thoughts on the matter. I guess sometimes even when we are trying to be obedient, we can lose sight of God if we don't really know how grace works. I used to think I was commanded to obtain God's perfect for Him - see what I mean? I didn't yet understand the totality of grace - still don't and never will, but I understand better now.
Hope my comment was in no way discouraging!
No, Sweet friend, you did not discourage me. I welcome your comments. They just made me go back and reflect on what I had written to be sure I had been true to the message I felt God had given me to write. You are always welcome to comment, and you do not need to apologize for the length nor the content. Thanks, Jamie.
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