Not perfect

I'm not perfect, but most of the time I feel like I need to be. Sometimes I feel that in order to be a true follower of Christ, I. have. to. be. perfect.

But here's the thing. God never asked me to be perfect. He said, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." The problem is that I often get "holy" and "perfect" mixed up. Being holy like God is holy means turning away from sin. It means having thoughts, actions and attitudes that are pleasing to God. It's different than my convoluted version of "perfect". The Bible tells us what God considers sin. It tells us what is pleasing to Him and what isn't. But I add a lot of stuff to that. My version of perfect includes a lot of stuff that God never said anything about in the Bible.

Some days I get so busy trying to be "perfect" that I forget that I don't have to be. I need to be holy. I don't need to be "perfect". And it's hard to focus on being holy when you're all caught up in being "perfect".

Sometimes I cry.

Sometimes I forget things.

Sometimes I burn dinner.

Sometimes I don't get up when my alarm goes off.

I'm not good at math.

I can't play the piano to save my life.

I hate playing sports.

My courtship wasn't like the books.

Sometimes I laugh too loud.

Sometimes I accidentally say awkward things.

Sometimes I don't cook things from scratch.

I have a hard time sitting still for long periods of time.

Sometimes I disagree with people I respect.

Sometimes I'm late.

But you know what? It's ok not to be "perfect".