I always am frustrated trying to wrap up something like this. For 31 days (with a few grace-days) I’ve posted about imperfection. A month ago I walked into this challenge hoping, praying, desiring that in the process I’d become (at least a little more) “okay with imperfect”. In everything from sharing Bible passages God brought to my attention to flat out admitting some of my imperfections, it’s been quite the journey. As I said, I’m not the best at wrapping these things up, so I guess I’ll just do so tonight by recalling some of the things I’ve learned (whether I shared them on the blog or not). Thanks for joining me on the journey!
- Striving for perfection can get in the way of understanding grace.
- As hard as it can be to admit our imperfections to others, we must find safe communityin which to do just that. Our life isn’t perfect, and we need people to point us to Jesus in the midst of that truth.
- Realizing that we’ll never be perfect in this life, is frustrating.
- God shows up in the imperfect… again… and again… and again… and again.
- When we try to ignore our imperfections, act like they’re not there, or let them build up, we soon get overwhelmed and believe Satan’s lies that we’re not enough.
- We are imperfect, yet we are bound to The Perfect One.
- Comparison creates a false sense of imperfection as well as unattainable standards. Give it up!
- As much as he desires it, God knows we will never be perfect in this life, He just calls us to live loved.
- Trying to cover up imperfections never really works and creates more work in the process.
- In striving for perfection it’s easy to lose sight of this truth: OUR GOD LOVES US! When we lose sight of that, life gets all kinds of crazy!
- God loves us ‘as is’. 🙂
- WE MUST TELL OUR STORIES, imperfections and all.
- The view we have here on earth is imperfect, but one day we will see perfectly clear.
- We can’t ignore the imperfect nature of our past… oh we try… but it’ll still be there until we actually deal with it. Fear keeps us from looking back, but when we know and rely on the love God has for us, that perfect love drives away the fear.
- Our lives our messy, but thanks be to God that we have a Savior who was willing to get messy for us to take on our imperfections despite his perfection.
- God’s power is made perfect in our weakness.
- We all need a break from the expectations of perfection we put on ourselves or that come from others.
- Our imperfections may be the very things that draw us closest to Christ.
- Because God’s love is perfect, I don’t have to be.
- No matter what our perspective on our faults and failures (our imperfections), there’s a truth that trumps it all: Jesus is alive and He’s coming back for us!
- “Until God’s love is enough, nothing else will be.”
- God longs to draw us into truth, even if that involves imperfections, because when we meet Truth, our lives are changed.
- God’s been trying to teach me these lessons for quite a while now.
- God know EVERYTHING and loves us anyway. WOW!
- “If I expect perfection from myself (or others), I will be perfectly disappointed.”
- I’m anything BUT perfect!!!
MinistryLIFE is messy!
So there you have it, just a little summary of a few of the many things I’ve learned over the course of this month. What lesson did you most need to be reminded of as we conclude this series?
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God showing up in the imperfect is important to me. It means we can stop putting on a show for ourselves and those around us.