The Poison of Perfection

Imagine constantly being reprimanded for your every imperfection. Your behavior is constantly scrutinized like in the movie Equilibrium starring Christian Bale. In it, the whole society is based on behaving perfectly by eliminating emotion. Their idea was if there was no emotion then the world would be a better place. There would be no wars because you wouldn't have anger. Everything would be taken away that evoked emotion. The police were constantly surveying everyone's behavior to be sure they were acting perfectly. How often do we put that on God? Do you think God is surveying your every move to see that you are acting perfectly every minute of every day and if you aren't, He is there to lay down the hammer and punish you? I honestly thought God was like that. Maybe not every minute of every day but I thought He was constantly looking at my behavior and would either love me when I was doing good and then when I was doing something bad He would withdraw His love from me. My response to that was to scrutinize my every behavior to make sure that I was acting perfectly so that He would love me instead of resting in His unconditional love. I've come to understand that God does not operate in the poison of perfection. God's love is great than the love of a loving earthly father. It's unconditional. God doesn't demand perfection from us. When we do screw up, He doesn't take His love away. In fact, it's the opposite, He lavishes His love upon us when we've strayed and come back to Him just like the prodigal son. His love is not based on merit. When you think about a loving Father meeting His child for the first time at the moment of birth, the father's heart is beaming with love and joy in his beautiful child. That child didn't come with a list of dos and donts in order for that father to love them. The father simply loves them. That father and mother bond with that child regardless of the crying right? That baby is simply loved and that is what I believe God wants to share with us. We are simply loved and cherished because we are His.

He showed His great love by dying on the cross for our every sin. We didn't have to do it. He did it for us. He loved us that much. It was a free gift and we didn't have to earn it. We simply ask to receive Him as our Savior and we are His.

We don't have to keep striving to prove ourselves to make Him love us. He already proved His love for us before we were ever born. All we have to do is love Him, love ourselves and love others. We can live every day in appreciation of His love for us. Out of that appreciation is how we go about our daily walk with God. Living Free of the poison of perfection in His love. Walk free beloved. With His Love,

Heather Check out the book Present over Perfect by Shana Niequist here: https://amzn.to/3FtcVVC (Disclaimer: I receive a small compensation through affiliate links at no cost to you if you order through my link).