Spiritual Perfection vs. Worldly Perfection
I’ve shared before about my certain celebrity obsessions. There are some actresses I just can’t get over sometimes. I find myself wishing I could act more like them (when reality they are acting like someone else, too), wishing I could look more like them or talk more like them. I even from time to time find myself wondering what it’d be like to have the luxury of having everything you need and want whenever you want! I’ve learned the difference between those kind of feelings and the feelings of wanting to be more like the role models and mentors I know personally in my life. The healthy kind of admiring and striving versus the devil of comparing and envying. So I do somewhat understand when every day I see my middle school girls commenting on instagram posts “Get ugly.” “Share some of your pretty with me.” “I wish I was you!” “You’re perfect!” “Your life is perfect!” “Your hair, your eyes, your face. Perfect.” I’ve been there and sometimes find myself back there. Those thoughts are the comparing and envying we don’t want to have!
When we wish to be someone else, to look like someone else, to have the life of someone else we are not living in the image God created us to be, the life He chose for us! We are created in His image (Genesis 1:27), fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). He knows the hairs on our head (Matthew 10:30, Luke 12:7). He directs our steps and He knows the details of our life (Psalm 37:23). If it was supposed to be another way, it would be. If there was a better way for your life to glorify Christ, you would have a different life. We are basically saying to God you’re not good enough, you’re not smart enough. I should have been her, I should look like her, I should have that family, that life, that house, that school. (Ecclesiastes 7:13) The Moms and Daughters part of our Girl Talk Ministries is all based around that verse- “Consider the work of God- who can straighten out what He has made crooked?” Consider the Work of God.. all that we mentioned above. He made us in His image, He knows us in and out. He is enthralled with your beauty, He gave His son to die for YOU! A Father doesn’t want the worst for their children, every parent I know would give the entire world to have the best for their child. God would give more, He did. He gave His own Son. Consider the Work of God- who can straighten out what He has made crooked? Who can change what He has done? Who would want to change it? He knows all things- past, present and future. He knows what is best for you and He wants what is best for you. Letting the enemy and the world wrap you up in the way you look, the things you have and the life you’ve been given disables you from living the life God wants you to have! You are beautiful! You are holy! You are righteous! You are the child of The Most High! You are redeemed and loved! (Sent to me by my sweet friend Carrie Rester this morning, God’s perfect timing) Don’t let the world rob you of that with the exhaustion of comparing, envying and coveting.
{side note}
Don’t forget people don’t typically post about their boring moments, their sitting home alone on a Friday night or the times when all their kids are screaming and the wine bottles are empty. (Some people do, but who likes those kind of people?) People don’t post bad pictures of themselves and rarely do people post pictures of themselves that has not been edited and filtered! Don’t be fooled! Quit comparing your behind the scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.
Be you! Do you! Don’t worry about being anyone else but your pure beauty of God’s image! Are you more concerned with your spiritual perfection or your worldly perfection?
I am a straight up perfectionist. And I am the kind that if I can’t figure something out or I can’t do it perfect, I won’t do it. Homework was a killer. I left questions blank on tests. It’s just not a good thing. These verses from Paul really help me realize that it’s not in perfectionism that people see Christ most. I don’t have to boast about being perfect. I don’t want anyone to see anything but Christ when they look at me. I can boast abut being weak! Because even when I am weak, He is stronger! I want to be like Christ, therefore ultimately I want to be perfect. But I don’t want to be perfect in the world’s eyes. I don’t want to be the prettiest, the skinniest, or the most perfect with the biggest house, the most money or the best life. I want to reflect Christ in all that I do, I want people to see Him in me and nothing else. I want a life that glorifies Christ in every word that is said, every action that is taken, every penny that is spent and every place that is home. That is the perfection I want. I want spiritual perfection, I will die still striving for it but I would much rather die striving for what will fill my life and something I will receive in Heaven than die striving for something that will never make me happy and something I will never have.
Are you more concerned with your spiritual perfection or your worldly perfection?
Xo Amy
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