Do We Prefer Perfection Over Grace?
by @bethvogt
I haven’t had a perfect day in a long time.
To be honest: I haven’t had a perfect day ever.
Every day I get up with my plans for how the day is going to go.
My plans? They’re not all that fantastic. It’s not like I’m shooting for the moon, literally or figuratively – but I am aiming for personal and professional goals and pursuing my writing dream.
And every day, I wake up … and then every single day interruptions mar my plans for a perfect day.
Yesterday started off with me dragging out of bed after staying up later than I planned the night before – for good reason. I can’t remember what the reason was, but I am almost certain it was a good one.
But hey, even with getting up a bit later than planned, there was still time to win the day and make the plan work.
Except my dog Jo got sick and there was this panic-stricken visit to the vet that totally threw my day off. Jo is fine. And my vet knows how to take care of sick dogs and crying females. He’s the best.
Yesterday most definitely was not the perfect day I’d planned.
Which brings me to a sign I have on my mantle: LIVE BY GRACE, NOT PERFECTION.
I was the one who bought the sign and placed it on the mantle so that I would see it every single day. And I walk past it as if I’m blind.
I operate as if I prefer perfection over grace.
Why do I so easily forget that perfection is not attainable? That those perfect days I’m aiming for are few and far between – if they even exist at all?
And why am I so miserly with grace?
God says he lavishes his grace on us (Ephesians 1:7-8). And yet when it comes to grace, I tend to dispense it as if there’s not enough to last the day. As if there won’t be enough to cover my less than perfect days . . . or my less than perfect life.
Maybe you’re like me . . . pursuing perfect days and overlooking grace.
We need to stop and breathe for a moment. To realize the pursuit of perfection is like running on a treadmill with no off switch. We’re in constant motion, but we’re not making any real progress.
But grace … grace is freely offered. God offers grace to us in a miraculous, life-changing way.
And we can offer grace to ourselves and to one another, bringing a bit of peace and hope to our days.
We need to look more carefully for those grace moments in our imperfect days. Like when your vet offers you compassion when you’re crying on the phone because you think your dog is having a seizure. Or when you’re stuck in a long line at Starbucks and then the person ahead of you pays for your order. Or when that coworker who irritates you so badly you can’t think straight suddenly says something nice.
It’s all grace.
Perfection – I’ve found very little of that.
Grace – I need to look for it more … and I need to offer it more to myself and others.
What about you?
Do We Prefer Perfection Over Grace? http://bit.ly/2PexIkE #perfectionism #choices
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'Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor.' quote by @ANNELAMOTT http://bit.ly/2PexIkE #perfectionism #faith
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