No One is Perfect

Last week I spent three days in sunny, warm Scottsdale, Arizona (Tennessee has just been downright cold!).  I was honored to spend some time with three different MOPS groups delivering one message. The talented Jennine Ulibarri at the beautiful La Casa de Cristo Lutheran Church invited me to come speak a message to these incredible women.  Women that are young and seasoned, new and expecting, churched and unchurched yet have a common bond – we are all mothers.

Her team picked the topic – Living Next Door to Ms. Perfect.  Can I be honest though, I didn’t want them to select that one.  I wanted to create one for them.  I wanted them to experience more than a MOPS message but I wanted them to experience a Spirit message.  Then God began to settle me (more like scold me) that you speak what they want you to hear but what they need is for you to go deeper.

So that’s what we did and you know what the amazing thing is Jennine said the same thing when I arrived.  She was sharing with me how her prayer has been to take these girls DEEPER, deeper in a relationship with Christ.  I wanted to jump out of my seat and shout, “God your awesome!!”

Here are some key points to this message:

1. Worldly perfect vs. Spiritual perfect The world says, what kind of car do we drive, what kind of home do we live in or how many likes we get in our new status update for the day tells those around us how perfect we are.  The spiritual perfect says how many ladies bible studies are you attending, are you teaching Sunday school, are you praying for your children as they leave for school EVERY morning, not skipping one day.  If we are all honest we all struggle with a little perfectionism
2. Are you aware of acting more like a human doing than a human being? A to-do list or the busyness of the day can make any of us feel needed or important, but Jesus said there is only one thing needed – time with Him.  Balance can be hard, but guilt is worse.
3. We’re designed to seek this perfect love, perfect peace, and perfect life because we are designed for a relationship with the Perfect One.  We find this not in what we do, but in who He is.  Seek perfection in the only place it can be found – in Jesus Christ.  Fix your eyes on Him – the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2) I love this because we get the incredible opportunity to write the pages in the middle.  To write our story as a mother, a wife, a friend.  The question is what will the pages say?
4. You are loved. Before you did or could do a single thing, while He was still forming you in the womb, God loved you.  He loved you then and He loves you still.  He always will. I have loved you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3).  Nothing you can do will make Him love you more and nothing you can do will cause Him to love you less.  He loves you, period.

Believe it or not there are so many women that struggle with this.  As I sat at different tables in discussions, tears would begin to fall over  many of the women there.  They struggle with guilt, not feeling accepted, not feeling loved.  One woman shared with me that she struggles not as a mom, but as a person.  She doesn’t see herself as God sees her.  She couldn’t understand how God could delight in her.

So I ask you the question, do you know God delights in you?  That He sees you as beautiful and courageous.  He sees you as brave and perfect.  He is a proud Father that touts on His daughter – a beautiful masterpiece.

What do you struggle with the most when you hear the word Perfectionism?