Anxiety. It’s no stranger to many of us. The best way to combat the anxiety is to put on the armor of God and jump into these verses.
bible.com/bible/59/psa.34.4.ESVLetting go of perfection…part 2
Moses. David. Abraham. Paul.
These are some well known characters in the Bible! They must be pretty special right? Well, they did some pretty amazing things with God’s help, but they were definitely not perfect. God has never used perfect people!
MOSES
Moses killed a man. He told God he couldn’t do what he wanted because he was not good at speaking. He actually told God to send someone else. Despite all these things, Moses led his people out of Egypt.
“But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.””
Exodus 4:10 ESV
“But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.””
Exodus 4:13 ESV
DAVID
David had a baby with Bathsheba and ordered her husband to be killed in war. Despite this, he is still known as “a man after God’s own heart”
“In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.””
2 Samuel 11:15 ESV
“And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’”
Acts 13:22 ESV
ABRAHAM
Abraham told God he was too old. God gave him a son anyway… at age 100.
“I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?””
Genesis 17:16-17 ESV
PAUL
Paul (aka Saul) persecuted Christians. God turned him around and he wrote several books of the Bible and helped many churches and people.
“But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.”
Acts 8:3 ESV
“And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?””
Acts 9:20-21 ESV
A lot can change in 1 chapter! It really doesn’t matter how imperfect you are! God can still use you. Put aside your need for perfection and let God work in you!
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:1, 38-39 ESV
Letting go of perfection
“So close.” I think this a lot. I’m so close to achieving and reaching goals I’ve set for my self….until I flub up. One day ruins a whole week. One junky snack ruins a whole eating plan. One lazy morning ruins a good routine…or does it?
Is it reality to think we will NEVER have a lazy morning, NEVER have a bad day, NEVER make a bad food choice?
Sometimes I want a piece of the birthday cake and that’s that! Sometimes I need to skip out on doing laundry for the 95th time in a week and go to yoga instead. Sometimes I need a few more minutes of sleep.
We are not always going to check all the boxes or cross off everything on the list. We are not meant to be robots. We are meant to be real!!
Let go of perfection! Kicking myself when I’m down does no good. Last week I was feeling moody and a little down. Instead of getting annoyed with myself for allowing my emotions to get the best of me, I shook it off, addressed what needed to be addressed, and moved on. It may be a bump in the road but it doesn’t mean I’m out of the race. I can keep going.
Let go of perfection! I don’t love my double chin that has formed. Some days it’s all I can see in the mirror. Feeling pudgy, I listened to Pastor Rick Warren preach a sermon in envy. He has some great points. If you’re telling God, “Hey, I don’t like this fatty chin, My hair is too thin. My feet are too big…”aren’t you telling God he got it wrong? He messed up? This really made me think. Since then, I’ve thought about the things I don’t love about myself. These are things God gave me for a reason and a purpose. It’s who I am and how God made me! There’s only 1 me!
Let go of perfection. The Bible tells us:
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
Romans 3:23 ESV
So let go of perfection and stop setting unrealistic expectations. God made you to be you! do your best, pray, and give thanks!