Preconceived Notions, Perfection, and the Problems They Cause

This week has been hard. I couldn’t think of a solid topic to go with, I wasn’t feeling much direction from God, and I ended up spit-balling some paragraphs that didn’t seem to come together. They eventually (for the most part) ended up in this week's devotion. My struggle may have been due to the fact that I started work last week and it has been a strange transition in many ways, but I’m still happy for some normalcy and routine. My job is not difficult, but at times it can be very physically demanding. This is the opposite of what I’ve gotten used to during quarantine. Slowly, businesses are opening, and I’m sure many more people will be adjusting to going back to work very shortly (if not already) and can relate. 

As life would have it, my expectation of what life should look like is typically not what actually happens. I tend to have a picture in my head of how everything should play out. When things don’t work out, it’s hard for me to accept it; thankfully, I have been able to be better at this. But honestly? On the spiritual side I struggle with trying to be “perfect”. I try my hardest not to sin and apply everything I’ve learned from the Bible, carefully noting the "shalls" and "shall nots." After about an hour of attempted perfection I’m exhausted, if I can even make it that far. As you know, it is quite impossible to be perfect. Every step of the way, I try to do my best but fall short.

Sometimes life just gets in the way and we mess up. For example, I prayed to be salt at work and to make a positive difference (Matt 5:13.) You know how that prayer was answered? By a rough day (atmosphere/tension wise) at work and just doing my best to show my Christ. Did I do everything exactly right? Probably not. Are there things I could have done better? More than likely. Can I do anything about it now? No, other than apologizing if I let God down by my behavior, asking for help in the future with that situation, and taking steps to make it happen. It is hard to realize that I can rest in my brokenness because I’ve been made whole in Christ (Gal 2:20), but this is because my focus is often directed toward trying to gain perfection. I have to realize that I never will be perfect and stop stressing about it.

You may be sitting here thinking, “Well duh, everyone acknowledges that no one is perfect because of our humanity. Even non-Christians realize that.” The difference is that Christians depend upon one who can make us whole outside of ourselves. While reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, I ran across this quote that stuck out to me:

“You cannot make men good by law: and without good men you cannot have a good society.” ~ C.S. Lewis

It may take a few reads to fully process what this quote is saying. But for my skimmers out there, here’s what I gleaned from it. There is none righteous (Rom 3:10.) So then how do we have good men? Through Christ! He’s the only one able to make us whole or “good” in any regard (1 Thess. 5:23). By extension, we must have Christ in our personal lives in order to have a good society. Otherwise, society would… well, look around. Secular society thinks that being a good person or the philosophy of “do no harm” suffices to make us at least “decent human beings.” But we, as Christians, were called to so much more than that!

We can’t base our morality or goodness based on our works or how well we follow rules. We could follow all the rules perfectly, but if our heart is in e wrong place, we act out of pride, or have sin in our hearts, we’re not where we need to be regardless. In this fashion, following all the rules is not enough to suffice. As Christians, we try to reach these ideals that we can’t. They may have a good intention or be self-imposed guardrails to help us live better lives for Jesus, but we must eventually realize that we simply cannot, as humans, do this. We’re all like Paul, wanting to do one thing but really end up doing another (Rom 7:15-20.) We must realize we were never meant to be alone.

I’m as guilty as anyone else. I tend to want to hang onto my problems, stress out about them, and try to solve them all by myself. This situation is in no way helped by society telling me that I need to be a strong, independent woman who is capable of doing everything myself. That’s not the best way to handle it. Some of the times I felt most at peace in my life have been when I just let God take care of it (whatever "it" may be for that day of the week) and released myself from worrying about it. God wants to hear about your burdens through prayer and He wants to shoulder their weight for you. He never leaves us to handle the struggles of life alone (Deut. 31:6). 

Application Questions

Do you struggle to be “perfect” or to follow rules to the T? Do you tend to hold on to things instead of letting God handle what's out of your control?

What’s one step you can take this week to point your heart to God and let go of the need for control?

How can you allow God to make you more perfect in one area of your life? (E.g. financial, relationships, mentally etc.)

In what ways are your expectations for your life hindering you from trusting God?