How many of you have ever felt like you weren’t good enough? Or that you need to be perfect to really feel good about yourself? My guess is probably most of you have felt that way at some point or other. I know I have. When we recently asked about something youre facing right now thats hard on our instagram stories, this issue of "not measuring up" came up alot. So know that if you have felt this way or do right now, you are not alone.
It is so easy to compare ourselves to others or to hold ourselves to a standard of perfection that we simply can’t reach in this life. I believe this is one of Satan’s greatest tricks. He has found a way to make people who are trying their best and doing so much good feel like they just aren’t doing enough. But the reality is, Heavenly Father does not expect us to be perfect in this life. He isn’t comparing us to others. He is celebrating our progress and lifting us up when we need help.
There was a time in my life when I was having a particularly hard time trying to be perfect. I felt so incredibly inadequate and I felt like I wasn’t good enough to even be allowed to feel happy. Thankfully someone shared this quote with me and it changed my whole perspective,
“To be worthy does not mean to be perfect. Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness invites us to be humbly at peace on our life’s journey to someday become perfected in Christ, not constantly worried, frustrated, or unhappy in our imperfections today. Remember, He knows all the things we don’t want anyone else to know about us—and loves us still.” -Always Remember Him by Elder Gerrit W. Gong
When thinking about having to be "perfect," we should direct our focus to our Savior and His Grace that he so freely and lovingly gives us in every moment.
Brad Wilcox has a wonderful talk definitely worth the read or listen all about understanding grace. And when we understand this, we can come to realize a little more that there is not some line to reach in being perfect. "Grace is not a booster engine that kicks in once our fuel supply is exhausted. Rather, it is our constant energy source. It is not the light at the end of the tunnel but the light that moves us through the tunnel. Grace is not achieved somewhere down the road. It is received right here and right now. It is not a finishing touch; it is the Finisher’s touch (see Hebrews 12:2). Read his entire talk HERE.
If you are wanting to look into some other resources to learn more about grace and reflect on how this can apply to your life, we recommend the following:
- "Grace Where You Are" - Book by Emily Belle Freeman
You can also listen to her free podcast about grace at https://deseretbook.com/p/e62-emily-belle-freeman-grace-for-all-seasons?ref=Grid%20%7C%20Search-33&variant_id=184285-audiobook-mp3-
-Listening and pondering with uplifting music. This album by Gentri is amazing.
-Article to read: https://www.ldsliving.com/Be-Ye-Therefore-Perfect-Eventually-10-Ways-to-Combat-Toxic-Perfectionism/s/90096
We are all children of our Heavenly Father. Wherever we are on the path back to Him does not matter. He loves us and He wants us to be happy. We are not perfect now and we won’t be in this life but ultimately we can be made perfect through Jesus Christ and that is something we can be happy about right now.
We love you! We hope and pray that you can find a peaceful moment to feel happiness in your life and be proud of what you are accomplishing right now.
Keep it up, Bee There Girls!
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