I’m a perfectionist by nature. Striving for perfection is something I’ve always pursued; it’s been my goal. I always want to “be better” and “do better.”

I have thoughts running through my head telling me things should be better. “That’s not good enough. It should be better. Why aren’t you doing more?” I call it my inner critic and it’s loud. And, if we’re being honest, it’s mostly negative thoughts.

I’ve discovered a lot about myself these past few months. It’s easy for me to fall into believing these critical voices in my head. More often than not, I don’t even notice them, but instead just accept them. On one hand, I always want to do better, but better is never good enough. Contrarily, I notice that when I’m healthy and secure; my inner critic is quieter.  When I stress, my inner critic is louder than usual. Quite honestly, it’s exhausting.

Here’s the thing though...

The Lord tells us we’re not made perfect alone. It’s impossible, really.

But when in Christ, we’re perfect in Him.. Philippians Chapter 3 is one of my favorite chapters of the Bible; it’s been speaking to me recently.

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His  own.” Philippians 3:12

This verse reminds me that I am whole and complete in Christ. I’m learning that I don’t have to listen to these critical voices in my head. I’m NOT perfect. I wasn’t designed for perfection.  The Lord made me to be who I am and to be perfect in his image and that’s good enough.

“But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthly bodies into glorious bodies like His  own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which He is putting everything as it should be, under and around Him. .” Philippians 3:20-21

God promises to make us whole and complete with Him alone. I get excited thinking about the arrival of Christ! We will be transformed into His  image - perfect and blameless. Can you picture how amazing that will be?

 Lydia is the communications intern here at The Vineyard. She assists the team with creative projects and also helps to get Art for the Heart of Africa out into the community.

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