I’ve been a perfectionist my whole life. As far back as I can remember I’ve held myself to impossibly high standards and been hard on myself when I’ve failed. This stands in stark contrast to the God I know and love and the biggest epiphany to date has been the realisation of how free and unearned grace is and has to be. There is a sense in which striving to be the best you can and not compromising by lazily accepting ‘that’s just the way I am’ or ‘I don’t deserve any better’ is really helpful and motivating but there’s just as much truth in knowing that grace is freely given because of God’s amazing love for us.
Realising this, accepting it and understanding it undoubtedly comes in various depths. Of course we can never fully explain or comprehend the true magnificence of God’s grace and the power of his sacrifice to reconcile us to him and who would dain to try and understand the mysteries of God? But I believe it can be summarised thus: Nothing we can ever do, say, sacrifice or hope to be will reconcile us to God. We will never earn or deserve His grace. But, nothing we can ever do will overcome his love for us.
No sin is too great, no indiscretion too big. He has wiped any and every stain, mark and blemish when he sacrificed his only son to redeem us. Jesus says: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). And before that in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”
So if you’re anything like me walking in grace comes as a challenge more than anything so here are a few tips I’ve picked up along the way to remind myself that I walk confidently in grace not condemned to a life of striving in vain for perfection:
1. Celebrate the small victories. Not least because you may never know just how big they may turn out to become
2. Face the big struggles head on. Don’t be afraid of unchartered territory. Go bravely into the unknown and see how capable you are
3. Forgive yourself for your shortcomings. As Christians we are called to forgive everyone. This includes ourselves.
So to conclude, grace is not easy, grace is unachievable, it was forged by the unjust murder of a perfect man for the sins of those before and after him more numerous probably than the grains of sand. But grace trumps that. It covers that, it eradicates our errors and undermines our efforts to reconcile a relationship with a God that cannot face sin. But it undermines our efforts by taking the onus off us trying to bridge a gap we are unequipped to build and paves the way for us to walk freely and with ease into the love of our Father who welcomes us back with open arms, clothes us with majesty and already has a place for us set aside, a destiny, a future.
Jesus allows us to be cloaked in royalty. So next time you’re giving yourself a hard time remember firstly who you are, where your validation comes from. Ask yourself what perfectionism says and contrast it with what grace says? Freedom comes from walking in grace not beating yourself up.
Written by Sara Bennett
TweetMe @Sarallam
Check out her personal blog HERE