Turn the Heat Down

"It's about progress, not perfection" is a comment I heard many times when sitting around tables with strangers in meeting rooms of church basements years ago.  That mantra is a great guideline for those struggling with addiction. It serves as a gentle reminder that getting better is a process, not an event.

We tend to forget that it's no different in our spiritual journey. Being a Christian isn't an event—it’s a process, and a lifetime process at that. Contrary to what many of us think at times, it isn't about perfection. Our walk is about progress. Most of us know that we are not perfect....nor will we ever be. Yet we continue to beat ourselves up for not being perfect almost every time we do something contrary to what we know is God's will for us.

We play a huge role in our children's growth into young adults. Throughout the years from baby to twenties, we don’t see flawless perfection. We see progress because their growth is a process full of ups and downs, trials and tribulations, missteps and mistakes, and most of all, positive learning from all of that. When our kids were growing up we weren't scorekeepers. We were forgivers as they made those stupid mistakes that eventually they learned from. We need to look at God in the same way as we struggle with our spiritual journey. He's no scorekeeper. He is a forgiver.

Let’s turn the heat down. We tend to put a lot of extra heat on ourselves for screwing up. Instead of beating ourselves up over it, we need to try to look at whatever it was as a positive. It's a lesson to be learned from if we choose it to be and that can be a real positive. In addition to turning the heat down, we need to take a moment to remember that there was only one perfect one. His name was Jesus. He knew of our imperfect nature so He died on the cross for us. He carried our sin, our mistakes, our imperfection, so that we could make progress toward the ultimate perfection. He handed us a process to live by, not on a silver spoon, but on a wood cross.

Bottom Line Thought: Are you a scorekeeper or a forgiver with your kids, wife, friends, and yourself? Do you grasp and embrace the concept of progress?