Living A Real Life In Absence Of Perfection

Have you ever struggled with perfefctionism?

perfectionism :: a personal standard, attitude, or philosophy that demands perfection and rejects anything less

I hope you haven’t, but if you have, you are most certainly not alone.

Consciously or otherwise, for a number of years I worked tirelessly to never show my failures to my children. In trying to be the perfect parent, I guess I desired to always be–or appear as if–I had everything under control.

Until one evening in my middle school-aged daughter’s room. Through her tears her words rocked me to my core, “You’re perfect, and I can never be like you.”

The sound of glass crashing (or maybe it was my world) reverberated through my head in that moment. I was dumbfounded. What? Here I was trying to be the perfect parent, the perfect woman, but my attempts of perfection were causing harm to the girl most important in my life. I had no idea my actions and attitudes were causing my daughter such hopeless feelings of defeat and discouragement.

After embraces with her of reassurances and love, my motivations changed in that life-altering encounter with my daughter.

I no longer needed to strive for perfection.

God knew I was far from perfect, and so did I. So, I chose to be let my kids see that, too. I began to be real with them. I stopped hiding my mess-ups.  And, I allowed them to see–maybe for the first time ever–how their momma was just like them… someone imperfectly finding her way through life, desperately clinging to God.

Something also happened during that experience. The burden of perfectionism that had nearly suffocated me lifted, and God reminded me perfection isn’t necessary to live a real life. I was finally free to be me, mistakes and all.

But he said to me, `My kindness and strength is enough for you. When you are weak, my power is strong.’ So then, I am very glad to talk about how weak I am so that the power of Christ may live in me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 (WE)

And, I could rest in God’s grace and in His power.

Friend, you can too. God doesn’t expect you to be perfect. He expects you to rely on Him and on the power of Christ that resides in you. And, strange as it may read, maybe someone in your life needs to see you’re not perfect either.

Real life happens in the absence of perfection.

When we are weak (or imperfect), God’s power is strong (and perfect). Real life happens when we trust Him and His power. Jesus is perfect. You and I don’t have to be. Thanks be to God!

May we rest in this truth today.

Blessings to you!

Julie

 

 

Here we are on Day 8 of 31 Days Of Living A Real Life. You can find the previous posts in this series by clicking here.