Picture Perfect

Perfection.

It's something we all strive for and put so much effort into. From having the perfect grades to taking the perfect selfie, I think it's right to say that we all want perfection in at least some aspect of our lives.

When you think about it, it's not wrong to say that we get this from our Heavenly Father. I mean, God is a perfect God. He created everything in existence to be perfect, including us. He doesn't make mistakes and is always right. God made us in His image so it makes sense that we would yearn for perfection.

But our desire for perfection seems to be distorted. You see, we want the world's standard of perfection rather than God's standard of perfection. With the world's standard, it's all about self, whether it's having the perfect looks, perfect job or perfect family. At the end of the day, it all comes back to what we want for ourselves. We want others to see us and envy what we have, trying so desperately to get validation from people who we may never even meet or who don't matter in the slightest.

I'll give you a personal example. For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you'll know that I tend to post music videos, especially during this lockdown season. But recently, my voice has been acting up and I found that I didn't sound like how it used to/my vocal skills weren't up to their usual abilities. It got to a time when I wasn't posting for a while because I wanted to sound perfect, so I wouldn't upload a video unless I got everything down to a T (basically unless it was perfect), which most of the time didn't happen.

I was so caught up in trying to be perfect that I forgot that God gave me my gift so His love could be shared to others through me. My need to be perfect hindered my passion to serve.

Like everyone else, I have insecurities, and so even with the things I'm good at (in this case singing) I want to always make sure I sound good enough. I think we're all like that at times with things we find that we're gifted in. We want to polish our talent and make sure that we give it our all, leaving no room for mistakes, only perfection. And when we aren't as good as we want to be, we get irritated and fed up.

The need to be perfect can be tiring. We want to portray to others that we have everything figured out and that we're good at everything all the time. But the truth is, it takes a lot of hard work and energy to act like you're the put-together person people see, all the time.

As best said by Beyonce in her song Pretty Hurts, "Perfection is a disease of a nation." Social media has helped in creating that lie that there are people out there whose relationships, jobs and families are picture-perfect. But we forget that that's exactly what they are: PICTURE perfect. Their perfection can only be seen in the pictures, but behind the camera, their lives may not exactly be worth admiring.

I know you might hear it a lot, but we were created in the image and likeness of God. Our very nature is like God's yet He made us all different and unique. We were deemed perfect even before we we knew what perfection was. There really is no need to work so hard to have the fanciest cars or the best clothes or the ideal life.

Happiness can come from the little imperfections we see in ourselves and all around us.

Take the changing of leaves in autumn. The leaves are basically dying which is why they change colour, but this imperfection isn't a turn off. In fact, it shows off the beauty of the season.

Honestly, we need to stop worrying about trying to be so perfect all the time. It's ok to make mistakes, it's ok to fail, it's ok to post pictures that don't necessarily show you in a flattering light and it's ok to show that you're a normal person like everyone else.

So upload that awkward selfie. Don't be afraid of failing that test (although I do encourage you to study hard and give your all). Don't be ashamed about not getting into that prestigious school that your friends got into.

In Christ, we are made perfect even in our imperfections.

Remember that a lot of the time, it's our imperfections that give us the strength to go on.

There's beauty in flaws and blemishes.

Strive to be happy with who you are rather than striving towards absolute perfection.

God's love is enough to show us how perfect we are in Him.

Happy New Month guys! Hope you learnt something from today's post. What are your thoughts on perfection? Share in the comments below or email/message me on social media. Would be happy to hear your view. Don't forget to subscribe to the blog if you haven't already. Have a great week!

Stay blessed and stay a blessing.