Perfection: quality of being free or as free as possible from all flaws. A big obstacle that social media has brought into this world, is this facade, or mirage of perfection. Obviously our first instincts are to share all the good things on social media; pictures on days we look good and statuses on days we feel good. And as women we are known to constantly compare ourselves to others. When we buy in to this mirage, and then use it as a standard to measure ourselves with, we can really mess things up.
Let's say we go over to Becky's Facebook. Oh look, she's posted this status about how much she loves Jesus, which is a great status. But why do we turn that into a comparison to our walk with Jesus? Thinking “Dang, Becky's in a great place with the Lord. Why can't I always be super strong in my faith like her? I'm struggling right now with depression and anxiety. Why am I so much more messed up?” And then it’s almost like I need to compare myself more, find some other seemingly perfect standards to measure myself against. We scroll down and see, op, there's a beautiful picture of Becky all dolled up to go some where. Now it’s “Dang, why can't I look like Becky? Right now I'm in a stretched out t-shirt that has a big chili cheese fry stain down the front. My hair is so tangled in this messy bun that, let's be honest, a Von Trapp sized family of mice could just move right on in. Why can't I look as put together as Becky?”
The comparisons could go on and on, but we need to realize something very important: that social media feed is not reality. The reality is Becky is not perfect. She has struggles and days she doesn't look so great too. The image that most Christians put out for the world to see leads us to believe Christianity is all hearts, hugs, and rainbows. I have a past, when powers of darkness ruled my life, a story before I accepted Christ and His grace intervened and saved me. And even after that point, I have been through valleys, and have had my own day-to-day struggles. The Christian walk is "by faith, following after the Lord, in the highs and lows in the reality of life in a broken world." I started the journey of humility and transparency around Janurary 2013. I say humility because there's this false pride that comes with living your life like you have it all together. Brothers and sisters, there is a need for transparency. The pressure of trying to prevent others from seeing our mess, our brokenness, will only end up choking us under the impossible standard of “perfect.” Be transparent, be freed.
Christians, when we are struggling and feeling like outsiders, it's because we buy into the lie of perfection. Even at a young age I tried to pretend like everything was okay..even in extreme circumstances. I was 10 years old when my Grandma (Mom’s mom) died. Thank goodness I wasn’t wearing eye makeup then because that day I spent a lot of time just crying down the front of my dad’s shirt and tie. When my Pawpaw (Dad’s dad) arrived, he walked up to me and did the usual “Hey sweetie how are you?” and in between sobs I croaked out the response “Good,” without even thinking. Obviously the situation was sad, but now I’m laughing at the ridiculous irony. That time was probably the first time my heart really broke, but because I was so programmed on always needing to be good, that was my response. I can’t tell you the number of times since I started going to church 7 years ago that I’ve used that response “Good” even though I may have really been going through some kind of doubt, struggle, or depression. Of all places, the church should be the place where you and I feel like it's okay to not be okay because no one in that building is perfect. Everyone of us knows what it’s like to broken. Everyone of us knows that the only part of us that is “good” is Jesus in our hearts. We must wage war on the urge to look like we have it all together. When I live a life of transparency, I can walk into church and say, "You know, I've really been struggling with this lately. Do you have a moment to just pray with me?" When I am real and raw with my faith, that's when I can be set free from the bondage of an impossible, perfect life. Striving to live a life in perfectionism will fail us every time. Every time I tried living that life I was left empty. We can not buy into the perfection mirage, and we especially cannot use it as a standard by which you compare ourselves.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." (Hebrews 12:1-3 NIV)
God still loves us in the trenches and when we are lost and confused. He celebrates with us when we finally find our way out. Jesus died for our sin, knowing we will go through many struggling times in our Christian lifetime. Let's be brothers and sisters that share our struggles so we can find encouragement from the ones around us fighting the good fight. If you are not a Christian I still want you to hear this message. Jesus died on a cross, for you. He died so you could know the everlasting love of the Father! If you have questions about this whole Jesus thing and want to talk, you can message me on any social media and/or we can meet up and talk. I'm not going to promise to have all the answers, but I know a guy..aka the Lord, and I would love to help you in any way I can.
God began stirring all of this in my heart Sunday morning in Sunday School. We discussed Matthew 23, hypocrisy, and being genuine in your faith. Then my good friend Emily shared these great sermons from Matt Chandler. (Where most of this blog post comes from.) This paragraph above is only a lite dose of the beginning of Matt's talk on woman's redemption. I extremely encourage you to find time in the next few days, or week, to listen to these three sermons.
A Beautiful Design: Woman's Purpose
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCpprEifv6U
A Beautiful Design: Woman's Hurdles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr_lBw0nLRM
A Beautiful Design: Woman's Redemption
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOqkqs5KB9A
This topic wasn't really on my heart 3 days ago, but after listening to the first sermon I just needed more. What a great message our brother has to offer!
From an imperfect follower of Christ, Cassy Strickland, lots of love and hugs.
