Free to Be You

Every time you take a step forward out of obedience to God’s call on your life, the step itself is a shot of confidence. You are free to be you! No one is courageous in his own strength. True courage comes from God. There are times that you will still feel fear as you step out in faith.

Freedom from Perfectionism

In this Instagram world, it is easy to look at the families of friends and think they have it all together. Her life looks perfect, so it must be. This false picture-perfect-image is just an illusion.

All of us experience storms in our lives. I need to keep my eyes on Jesus so that my feet don’t sink into the waves of the storm (see John 6:15-21). In the midst of the storm you will be transformed. The things that used to frighten you no longer have power to manifest fear in your life.

Perfectionism is a blinding foe. You don’t realize you have been blind-sided until you come to the end of yourself. It will drive you to strive for excessively high performance goals. It may cause you to be highly critical. You will be driven to meet impossible standards, unable to please yourself and others. It squeezes the fun out of life and steals the joy out of relationships. Rather than being relaxed and at-home with who you are, you may constantly try to be someone else.

Replacing Perfectionism with Presence

Replacing the drive for perfectionism with the peace-filled presence of the Holy Spirit in your life will rejuvenate you. Learning to relax in God’s presence will free you from fault-finding.

Perfectionism is a prison that binds you to standards you can never meet. Perfectionism is a prison that binds you to standards you can never meet

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“If you wait for perfect conditions,

you will never get anything done.” Ecclesiastes 11:4 LB

Perfectionism causes you to hesitate. If you place such high standards on yourself you will never move forward and obey God. Your internal dialogue could be something like this… I don’t know what to do. I’m afraid that I’m going to get it wrong. I need to just play it safe. If I can’t do it perfect, I won’t even try.

Perfectionism can cause your prayer life to have extreme standards. You may have nagging thoughts or unreal expectations… If I really knew how to pray, than all my problems will go away. I’m going to set my alarm for 4:00 and pray for 2 hours before work. Then when you sleep through your alarm and rush to work barely getting there on time, you blame yourself for not following through. Any virtue can become a vice when we try to accomplish it in our own strength.

Perfectionism nags at your self-worth and compares you to someone else.

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You may be your own worst critic when you don’t accomplish your goals. The only way to truly overcome perfectionism is through God’s grace that sets you free. As human beings, we all fall short of God’s standard. That’s why we need a savior.

Are You Ready to Wave a White Flag

Are you ready to surrender your heart fully to God? As you let go of your futile desire to be perfect and embrace the only PERFECT ONE–Jesus, you will find fresh freedom to be you! You won’t be fear-filled and anxiously trying to impress. You will be fearless and content.