Peace for the Perfectionist

Focal Verse: "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9

I am a perfectionist in many areas of my life. Probably the one area in which I strive to be perfect is the one area in which I will never even be close to being perfect. That area is my Christian walk. When I was saved at the age of ten, I started a daily quiet time with God. Through the years, I've strove to be God's perfect little soldier and "be all I could be."

The problem? I am nowhere NEAR perfect. And when I'm reminded of that, frankly, I get dejected, distraught, and downright depressed. Being all I could be won't cut it. I'm a flawed, sinful being. Even my best is nowhere near the holiness of God.

But in the midst of my realization of my flawed self, 1 Corinthians 12:9 brings peace, joy, and hope! My weaknesses are prime opportunity for God to work! I can look back at where a weakness was revealed to me and how the Holy Spirit turned that weakness into a victory, and I only praise God! Only HE could take a weakness that was woven into the fiber of my very being and inject his spirit for it to become a victory.

What another beautiful picture of my Savior. Instead of shaking his finger at my wounded-by-sin self, he tenderly reaches to pick me up, reminding me that in HIS strength (and my obedience), I can be rid of the weakness that crippled me for so long.

So, therefore, I boast in my weakness, because I know this is yet another opportunity for Christ's power to rest in me!