. . . And One For Good Measure

My wife—who I must say has very keen insight and wisdom—was explaining to me the other evening about people’s perspectives on God. She said until we really get down into the gut level of our relationship with God we view it as we do all other relationships. From academics, to sports, to dating, to jobs, to marriage…we are conditioned to “measure up” and meet other people’s expectations.

This is how we usually approach God as well. We feel like we must measure up: pray enough, fast enough, confess enough. What we often forget is God paid the ultimate price of suffering, dying, and rising from the dead because He knew we can’t measure up. He’s not expecting us to measure up. He’s expecting us to be real with ourselves so we can enjoy the true relationship we were meant to have with Him. All that other stuff: praying, fasting, confessing…that all comes with spiritual maturity and is a journey that continues our entire earthly lives. It does not happen because we condemn ourselves every time we screw things up.

It’s a tough mindset to overcome and I struggle with it all the time. I go through mind games of thinking “I have so blown it…I don’t even feel like praying. I’m embarrassed, ashamed and He’s probably not going to listen anyway because He’s so disappointed in me.” Listen up! This is a devil’s foothold that he loves to exploit. Human nature is flawed and satan will use that fact with wild exuberance any time he can. Any time we feel unworthy…bam! The devil has us right where he wants us.

Feeling unworthy in God’s presence is an unfortunate result of our “not measuring up” mentality. It’s at especially those times we need to reach out to our loving Father and tell him how we’re feeling. If you want to yell…yell. If you want to cry…cry. Just don’t wimp out and be taken in by feelings of unworthiness. God already know what you’re going through; He just wants you to come to Him and express it. We are His creation and—just like any good artist—wants to be intimate with what He’s made.

Pheewww…you got me on a roll here. Bottom line is, don’t try to measure up to God’s perfection…you won’t. Our humanness simply won’t let us. The wonderful truth, however, is that God’s love for you—and your love for Him—will transcend all that “measuring up” stuff and you’ll find that the more you approach God in complete honesty, the more you’ll realize that you’ve already measured up in His eyes. This world may suck and be a harsh critic, but by God’s grace we are perfect creations of our Heavenly Father and we can take this truth through eternity.

Blessings!

Greg Morton
© October 19, 2009