SCRIPTURE: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 1 John 3:20 NIV
THOUGHT: I wonder if Christianity attracts perfectionists? People who have an obsessive, inner need to be right, to feel right, to have a rule book. Maybe. But it also attracts people who’ve gotten it wrong, sometimes really wrong, and understand the power of grace and the Bible as a love story.
I guess I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’d rather be around the latter bunch. They just seem to live and breathe a little easier, offering grace out of the grace they’ve been given. But I’d also be lying if I didn’t own the truth that I can be more than a little perfectionistic too.
It’s an old story, born out of old wounds. I was hurt and ashamed as a child. I took the guilt on myself even though I’d done nothing wrong. The next 30 years of my life were dedicated to high performance so no one would know the shame I felt, and so I wouldn’t have to feel it again. Well, it didn’t work, but I do understand how the heart can condemn you even when you’re trying like crazy to get everything right.
Today’s promise is that God is greater than our hearts; he knows the truth of everything that’s going on there, and that’s a place we can actually find rest, because God is for us, not against us. Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.
SONG: If We’re Honest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAr6vpHZeME
PRAYER: Oh God, thank you that in your bigness, you can always offer us something greater than our own stories. Whether we come to the rule book or the love story today, speak truth to us by your Holy Spirit, and keep bringing us toward completeness.
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Blogger Amy Clemens is the author of Walking When You’d Rather Fly: Meditations on Faith After the Fall. In it she explores childhood sexual abuse and how it impacted her faith (or lack thereof) for four decades. You’ll find not only her story, but better yet, the Big Story of God.
Check out Walking When You’d Rather Fly, and learn more about the book and Amy’s other ministries. You will also find her devotional work at Words of Hope.
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