Tag:

Perfection

Why Striving For Perfection Will Never Satisfy You

by Lauren Koch September 6, 2022

Striving for perfection attempts to control

We are called to surrender. Are you living your life with a tight grip around everything? It could be a place to practice trusting in God. Proverbs instructs to “trust in the Lord with all you heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6). Entrusting our lives to God sounds reasonable in theory. But when lived out, it truly requires great faith and surrender.

Remember who you are

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10)

In these verses, we are reminded of exactly who we are through Christ. You are a royal priesthood! You do not need to earn perfection, but can confidently commune with Jesus as God’s special possession! Striving for perfection in your appearance, behavior, workplace, marriage, or parenting takes your eyes off your true nature. You are God’s craftsmanship and He is well pleased with you. When this truth reaches the depths of your spirit, you will be deeply satisfied. When you stay enamored on the face of Jesus, your soul will burn and stay on fire. It is what you were made to do.

Our response

In Matthew 19 Jesus actually gives the answer to attaining perfection: “²¹Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

If you struggle with perfection , my prayer for you this week is that your heart will loosen control, and that you will become absolutely in love with the person of Jesus. He will transform you further and deeper than you ever could on your own.

September 6, 2022 0 comment

Faith Featured

Persistence Over Perfection

by GOD TV May 1, 2022

written by GOD TV

Persistence over perfection. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of that. One day I woke up and I had a really hard time with just life that day, because I feel like I was doing so good in a lot of areas of my life, physically, my healthy lifestyle. I’m a mom, all the things. And then that day I woke up and I felt like I was doing a horrible job at everything, like I just went backwards. And then I heard from God and He said, “Persistence over perfection.”

In the word of God, it says in James 1:12, “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” So He’s actually saying you, He’d rather you be persistent. He wants to give that person the crown. So wear the badge of persistence well, not perfection. That’s why Jesus came and died for us. He’s the perfect One. He’s carrying that burden. We don’t have to. We just have to keep going. And when we do, we will see that all of the things that we are hoping to be, He’s going to help us be them.

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Persistence Over Perfection Is The Key To Success

by Deborah Manchac March 31, 2022

written by Deborah Manchac

Have you had a moment where you were doing so well in life and then out of nowhere comes a slip up? You were doing all the right things, feeling good about yourself, eating right, making progress at work or school then BAM! You wake up one day and you look at your perfection streak in the game of life and it’s gone. The streak you worked so hard to have. Then you start feeling like a failure because you messed up one time or a even a couple in a row.

Take it from a recovering Perfectionist. I know how you feel.

The Roots of Perfection

Growing up as the oldest and in a very strict home aiming for perfection was my survival mechanism. If I did it right, said it right and looked right then I’d be praised and loved. Just one mess up even by accident though could have me in big trouble that I avoided at all costs.

So learning that perfection is how you get things in life or avoid the bad things in life was inevitable for me. There was a high price to pay when I didn’t keep my “good” streak.

Maybe you had a similar up bringing and understand the pressure.
You may also feel like you are not a perfectionist you just want to be ok. You want to be stable and safe. That you were not trying to keep a high score. But let me tell you that if failure and mess ups put you in a doozy; then you were definitely not seeing it coming. Which means you were not expecting for you to make mistakes which is definitely perfectionist territory. But that’s ok! I’m right there with you remember?

Letting Go of the Pursuit of Perfection

What changed it all is when I read a devotional after having another day of feeling disappointed in myself because I got off the ball and did not feel worthy of anything good in my life. It said that God prefers Persistence over Perfection. What?! You’d think it’s something simple I should’ve known about God but when you are still recovering from lies and bad habits from your past it’s not easy to see the answers right in front of you.

All this time God actually praises and rewards Persistence over Perfection. As in He loves that you mess up a million times in a row but you get up and try again more than doing it right hundreds of times in a row and throwing in the towel when you fail. Accepting failure means we know we are loved enough to make mistakes and learn from them. No, this is not an excuse to not try and not put the effort. That is not persistence that is giving up. Which can lead to a lot of heart ache. Believe it or not though; people that have a hard time with failure and end up inevitably making mistakes choose to give up all together afterwards because of their disappointment. What could’ve been a small learning curve then becomes square one or they are worst off than before.

The Reward of Persistence

Persistence is leaning on the perfect one while you follow His foot steps. You are allowed to get angry, feel like giving up, feel worn out, say the wrong thing and do the wrong things. As long as you get back up when God offers you a hand. Let’s not push away His grace and help because we are caught up by the pride of our ways. Let Him help you and dust you off and try again. Persistence builds character, muscle and constant communication with God. In other words your weaknesses bring you closer to Him because He gets to be what He was meant to be in your life.

You gain a bestie for life!

Perfection cannot offer any of that because you don’t need anyone or anything in that mindset. It isolates you. Only God can carry the heaviness of perfection. He loves us so much He took that upon himself so we can be free to learn and grow with Him.

Be encouraged today and everyday that you can do all things through God who strengthens you and if you miss the mark then it was because He wanted to teach you some more great things. He wants to spend time with you some more. Let Him. And let yourself relax and be unapologetically imperfect. Wear the badge of Persistence well.

Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life. James 1:12

Deborah Liza

Discover how LOVING YOURSELF IS HOLY AND BIBLICAL

March 31, 2022 0 comment

Faith

Relationship With God Is An Adventure!

by Alexxa Lowery January 13, 2021

written by Alexxa Lowery

Have you ever heard someone refer to their secret place with The Lord? Intimacy with The Lord is a vital part of relationship with God! But, so many people today struggle with believing that their relationship with God has to look a certain way!

Perfectionism

For years, I lived my life with a religious lens. It prevented me from truly encountering God throughout the day. A day would go by, and I would be so hard on myself if I didn’t have time to read my Bible. I would overcompensate and strive for perfection when it came to spending time with God. Did you know that God isn’t looking for perfection? Romans 5:8 says, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He didn’t die for us because we were perfect, but because we were imperfect!

Relationship

It took me a few months to realize that this mindset was taking a toll on me. Not only on my soul but my body and mind as well. Spending time with God certainly doesn’t have to look a certain way. In fact, as God’s sons and daughters, you have full permission to make your relationship with God completely your own. Your secret place with The Lord can look many different ways! It can look like a walk on the beach, a hot shower in the morning, or even your commute to work. Despite having lots to do, God isn’t bound by our lives and can encounter us anywhere!

God Is With You Wherever You Go!

Busy schedules can be busy, but that doesn’t mean God doesn’t go with you wherever you go like it says in Joshua 1:9, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Be bold today and talk to God in ways you haven’t. Take Him places you’ve never invited Him into before! I promise, He’s already there and He wants to make His presence known to you!

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January 13, 2021 0 comment

Articles

Why Perfection Isn’t Relevant

by Trevor Tyson December 4, 2018

written by Trevor Tyson

As a human, you sometimes have thoughts that cross your mind about “what if” or “why not”… But once or twice, you’ve struggled with wanting to be perfect in some way or another. Whether it’s being the perfect student, mother, blogger, runner… whatever it is… it’s not relevant.

In a sense, perfection is unrealistic. You’ll always have flaws, you’ll always have heartbreak happen, or faith that struggles. But luckily, we have a God that is perfect and willing to walk alongside us. All too often we can get lost in what is trending, popular, or even trying to innovate new ways to gain praise or attention. However, rarely do we think about how useless that is to our lives. Just think, is this actually benefitting my everyday lifestyle? Is all of this effort that I am putting into this illusion going to benefit me? More times than not, that answer is a definitive “no”. So, what can we do to actually defeat our lust for perfection and actually benefit ourselves and the people that we love and care for?

Take care of yourself

Be proactive in taking care of YOU first. If you are stressed out, anxious and/or depressed, be sure to take steps to seek help and treatment if needed. Your mental health is so important yet so overlooked by the general population. It’s a huge issue and the lack of care and attention is literally killing people. Spread love, pursue health, and take care of yourself.

Challenge yourself

Whether you find that you have too much time to spare or too little to use, REEVALUATE! Find time to pursue your passions and to grow in whatever field you can see yourself spending the rest of your life pursuing. If you wait until tomorrow, every day for the rest of your life to chase that crazy dream that you have or to start writing the blog that you’ve always wanted to write, you will NEVER do it. You will wait one day too long and you won’t have the option to just pick up your pen and start writing… so think. What is holding you back? If you can live without the excuse you just thought of, I’d suggest starting today. Make that move without overthinking it! Just do it.

Be available

Perfection isn’t obtainable. It’s like the off-brand version of normal… it’ll never be as real as the original. It can get pretty close, but it will never be the exact replica.
Cut yourself some slack. Meditate on your greatest blessings and accomplishments. Realize that you have talents and aspirations that are unique to you and will never be as real for anyone else other than you.
You have a voice, you have a purpose and you will impact a generation… If you choose to drop your baggage, drop your pride, suck up your sorrows, and pursue the path of greatness that God has created for you. While you aren’t perfect… God is… let Him guide you every step of the way.

December 4, 2018 0 comment