Today’s Scripture
“We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God.” (2 Corinthians 3:4-5 NLT)
Thoughts for Today
Perfectionism is an issue for many Christians. Even though we know we became Christians by faith in Christ, not by our works, we sometimes continue to impose the weight of rules and regulations on ourselves. We set standards for ourselves and require perfect adherence to those standards. But measuring ourselves by extreme rules and definitions destroys hope. Even when we do something with 99.9 percent perfection, we still see ourselves as defective because of the .1 percent imperfection.
The result? Feelings of inadequacy, failure, worthlessness. Guilt. Self-condemnation. A common response to all this is, “Since I cannot possibly do it 100 percent right, I will not do it at all.
Consider this …
When we measure ourselves by those around us or by our own need to be perfect, we may not even try to succeed. All God asks is that we try to do something with our abilities and resources. When we allow ourselves the option of just making moderate progress, we will find the courage to grow in our walk with Jesus and in trusting him to help us do those things he has called us to do.
Have you given up in some area of your life? Consider today’s scripture. None of us are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. We can only succeed as we stop demanding perfection from ourselves and begin relying on Jesus to help us accomplish what he wants us to do.
Prayer
Father, I fell into the trap of trying to do things on my own and demanding perfection from myself. But I have failed – and I have given up. Please forgive me for trusting myself instead of Jesus. I know that I am not qualified to do anything on my own . . . but that I can do all things through Jesus. In his name . . .
Living Free Every Day®
http://www.christianity.com/devotionals/living-free-every-day/
momsfirstscreenn
Perfectionism can be an extreme, unhealthy motivater but as well be a paralyzing force not allowing us to do anything as you described because we cannot do it perfectly. I think many people don’t recognize that side of perfectionism more often identifying it with someone who ovobsessively does it all “over the top.” Thanks for addressing this important topic!