In A Perfect World...

Ever have one of those days when you are the last person that you want to be around? I really have too many of those. There are some days when I just don’t like me! 

Maybe you are one of those upbeat persons, that rises when a song in your heart and skip in your step. Maybe you look at yourself, first thing, in the mirror and reply, “Hey good lookin’!” or “How did I ever deserve me?” If you do, then great for you. We need to talk!

I tend to hit the alarm snooze button about 32 times, drag myself to the bathroom, look in the mirror and say something like, “Oh, you again?” I look at my receding hair, my crooked teeth, the ever increasing inner-tube around my midsection and don’t really like what I see. I want to be different. Sometimes I want to be someone else.

Then, there are days that I feel like all I do is fail, that things I do don’t really count for much, and most of what I accomplish isn’t really what I wanted it to be. I feel that life has let me down and I have returned the favor.

There is a scripture in the Bible that spoke a lot to me recently. Let me share it with you:

Psalm 139:14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

This scripture is about you and me! No doubt who the audience is in this one. The “I” in this scripture is universal because we were all made (basically) the same by the same creator.

You see, the world has a message. Our culture, especially in America, has something to say to us. It constantly barks the message that we are just not good enough. Advertisers tell us that our hair is not silky enough, our teeth are not white enough, we always weigh too much, we need new clothes, we need a better house, we need a different car, .... yadie, yadie, yadie ... etc. etc. etc.!! The message is always the same, we are not what, where, how we are suppose to be. They teach that without their methods we can never come to be who we need to be. Their message says that who you are and what you are now are just not good enough.

I think there is an osmosis to their method. It does begin to influence our opinion of who we are. I think most of us, although we dismiss this ploy, react somewhat by taking inventory of what we are, even if it is a insignificant look. 

All of God’s “works are wonderful!” I am wonderful. You are wonderful. We are “wonderfully” made. That tells us that God had a design for who he made us to be. We are made above and beyond the plain, the mundane, the ordinary! We are a “wonderful” creation. Who are we to say that what we are right at this moment is not perfection. God designed me with bad teeth, hair that is falling out, and the bulge in my middle, but that is God’s perfection. I may be a “10” or a “2” in my own eyes, but I am what God wanted me to be. To Him I am off the scale.

The world is constantly setting up models that they call “perfect!” There is the “perfect 10” model for example. They imply that attaining that model status is the ultimate goal. The models suppose two things: that it is possible to become equal to the model and that the model is an example of perfection. 

Let’s examine those thoughts for a minute. Let’s talk about the latter first: “that the model is an example of perfection.” Perfection, has a totally different look in the mind of God than it does in the thinking of our world. Excellence to God relates to His word, His will and His plan for our lives. Perfection to the world is hardly obtainable but is usually described in things that you can touch with your hands. Seldom does the world put perfection in the same realm with character, sacrifice, or spiritual qualities. Never does the world associate our measure of perfection with an example set up by Jesus Himself.

Now what about the first supposition: “it is possible to become equal to the model.” Part of the problem of worldly models is that they don’t stay the same. They drift, shift, and change.   This is touched on when Jesus talks about building our house on sand. (See Matthew 6:47-49) What is considered perfection today may not be considered thus tomorrow. One example: If you look at the art of the middle ages you may notice that many of the women were sporting quite the little pooch around the middle and seemed quite hefty. Supposedly, it was considered attractive for women to be plump during that time. During the 60’s models like Twiggy were considered the prime. Now in the 21st century we have other standards of what we consider “sexy” or beautiful. There really are no standards because standards change... which in fact, makes them not standards at all! (Does that make sense?)

Secondly, becoming equal to the model supposes that everyone has the same ability to become like the model. Many woman in the 60’s finally succumbed to the fact that, no matter how hard they tried, they could never reduce to the sticklike figure of Twiggy.  Because we are all dealt a different hand, our model of perfection should look different from that of others. 

The model of Christ is obtainable though, for all. God did not design a system that was only obtainable by a select few. No! The power to come to God’s perfection is readily at hand. Why can we all reach that model set up by God? We can reach it because He gave us all the tools and resources needed to be what He wanted us to be. We will never be able to blame God for asking us to be something and not giving us the raw materials to be just that. On top of that, the Spirit of God living in us, empowers us to change, to do, and more importantly, to succeed. Contained in you is everything you need to be perfect. Maybe this is why we read in Matthew 5:48 to “be perfect.” In God’s making you, “wonderfully”, He designed in you the ability to meet His standards of perfection.

What is perfection you ask. If I had to boil down what I think God would say about perfection to one thought, I guess, I would say this: Perfection is doing what God wants you to do, with what God gives you. 

By setting standards the world ascribes value to people. If I can’t reach the bar then I am not as valuable to the world. This is diametrically opposed to God’s system where the ultimate value is placed on all. And where God's design is perfect.

The way we feel about ourselves should always come through the filter of God’s word, His expectations, and His plan for us. We will seldom be able to match the perfection pattern that the world lays out for us. But we are designed to fit into the pattern God cut out for us... perfectly. The way we feel about ourselves will never negate how valuable we are to God. To hate, dislike, or devalue ourselves, in turn, says that God’s is not perfect in all He does. It says that our value of things is more important than God’s value system. 

Though I use the right shampoo, drive the right car, have the right weight, am I perfect? Or... will there be someone else that will come along and tell me that this perfection is wrong and I need a different perfection? Our personal goal is not to achieve a pattern that our world has set up but to come to a likeness of a perfect Christ.

Try looking at yourself through God’s eyes. When we value ourselves as God values us, we might see a different person in our mirror. We may always be able to see what we think should change in us but it doesn’t annul what God is planning for us to be. Our shortcomings, should not become a excuse for not being what God demands of us, but, neither should they cause us to sell short the value God placed on us, and the ability He has to do something great with, and through, us. The trick is letting Him perfect us.

“No one is perfect” is relative. When God is the designer, the maker, and the guide of who we are, how can we be less than perfect. Maybe this is not "a perfect world”, but really who makes that call?

Tomorrow when I wake up and drag myself to the bathroom. I am going to say to the person in the mirror, “You look perfectly wonderful!”

Philippians 1:6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.