Some people want to look perfect in everyone's eyes.
On Sunday, a couple different ideas about perfection came up at church, and I wanted to address them here.
One idea was how people often seek out fault's in others to feel better about themselves. I am so guilty of this.
For one example, I don't think I have a perfect body. I have admitted on here before, that I am often unhappy with how thick my thighs are, and I often check to see how much pudge is on my stomach.
Sometimes, I go on Facebook and check out photos of people that I think are really pretty, or used to be really pretty in high school. I try to find photos of their whole body so that I can compare mine to theirs and see if I am thinner.
It's awful; I know.
Somehow though, I wish bad on other people so that I can feel better about my own life. Although that doesn't really give me any lasting satisfaction. I might smile for a millisecond, but then I am again looking at myself in the mirror and thinking about how much I need to get in shape.
Some people look to others to make themselves feel more perfect. Others cover up their imperfections so that people will think they have it all together.
Even though people will admit to themselves that they have faults, they don't want to admit it to others. We put on a smile and don't talk about our failures, because we don't want anyone to know that we don't have it all together.
I often cover up my shortcomings, one because I don't want people to judge me. I was the "good girl" growing up, and I certainly don't want people to think that I have gone astray and am no longer "perfect."
Some also think that they will give God a bad name if they admit that even Christians falter in some places. People think Christians have to act perfectly, and we sure don't, because we sure aren't.
It's great to strive for perfection, because that means we are striving after living the way God wants us to. However, we are never going to actually reach that goal and we should never act like we have. It's a lie to act like we are something that we aren't, and we should all just loosen up and tell about our imperfections. Then we should all help each other in those areas instead of judging one another to make ourselves feel better.
Instead of comparing ourselves to each other, we need to start comparing ourselves to God - to the person God wants us to be. Although God wants me to be healthy, he doesn't want me to compare myself to others to make myself feel better about my body. He wants me to appreciate what he has given me and to make the best of it. Also, I should prioritize the things in my life. Is the shape of my body most important or should I be spending all that time working on my personality and spiritual imperfections instead of being concerned about a little extra pudge? I think that answer is obvious.
Just so you know, I do see the imperfections in my life. By confessing them here, I'm not condoning what I do. I know I need work, and I want to get better! Hopefully by seeing my imperfections, you can see some of yours so that we can all get better together!
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