Progress not Perfection

Are you perfect in every way?  I sure the heck am not.  I see my faults every day.  The thing is every one of us has imperfections that keep us from being perfect.  Everywhere you look these days there are pictures of perfect.   The media, advertisers, and society in general try to show us what we should look like and act like to be perfect.  The images on television, in movies, on billboards, and in magazines all portray perfect people in a perfect world.   They try to sell us on their products.  If we buy their product then we will look like the model or act like the model.  Fancy cars and money in the movies portray a perfect life.  The thing is that’s not real life.

Real life is far from perfect.  We are stuck in the everyday grind and we have to make decisions and choices that are far from perfect.  When we choose to eat fast food instead of a salad, or we don’t put a lot of thought or care into our wardrobe.  We say things to people that we shouldn’t when we get frustrated or we spend money on things we can’t afford.  We make it by pay check to pay check and we don’t have a mansion on a hill with 3 or 4 cars and a pool.  We are lucky if the one car we have even works. 

Real life has a tendency to slap us in the face.  It makes me wonder how God feels about our imperfect lives.  Does he understand why we are the way we are?  I fully believe that God doesn’t expect for us to be perfect.  If we were perfect then we wouldn’t need to be forgiven for our sins.  If we were perfect in every way than we would have set ways that we do things and a set way that we say things, our whole lives would be mapped out for us by us, and therefore our free will that God so graciously gave us would not be needed.  We would all be sort of clones going through the routine of life at the same pace and in the same way.  If we were all perfect, we wouldn’t have our own personalities, we wouldn’t own different cars or different houses.  Perfect people would all have the same amount of money and none of us would have to worry about our weight or height because we would all be the perfect size.  If everyone was perfect then there wouldn’t be a need for athletic events because every player would be perfect and it wouldn’t be competitive at all.  No I don’t think God minds that we are not all perfect, but I do believe that he expects us to make progress.

For a little over two months now, I have been eating right and writing devotions every night.  Some weeks have been better than others.  Some have been great and some have been downright frustrating, but through the whole process I have been making progress.  I have worked hard and I have lost weight.  I have made progress.  You see I believe that if we make progress through life than we are on the right track.  If we make efforts to achieve perfection then we are progressing.  If everyone progressed each and every day in their thoughts, words, and deeds then we would be one step closer to perfection.  If we took care of each other and set goals that are obtainable then we are making efforts, and efforts equals progress.

I may never be the ideal weight that I need to be for my age and height, but I will progress toward it. While I am working on that aspect, I am able to write my blog and keep God as the center of my life.  I am progressing not only in my weight management but also in my spiritual management.  I think that’s what it is all about.  We all need to progress, we all need to work toward our goals and keep God first in our lives.  God doesn’t care about us all being perfect because in his eyes we already are.  We were created in his image.  He just wants us to progress.  He wants us to work on feeding the homeless, growing in our faith, being kind to one another, treating our body as a temple, and not having a cloned personality but being ourselves and using the free will that he has gifted us with.  So I will work not on perfection but on progression.  I will work for me but most of all I will work for him.  I am perfect in his eyes and he loves me so much.  You know what?  He loves the perfect imperfect you as well!