6 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call to him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked one abandon his way and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, so he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will freely forgive. 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. 9 “For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return there without saturating the earth and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, 11 so my word that comes from my mouth will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do.”
ISAIAH 55:6-11 CSB
God does not require perfectionism.
But, it’s interesting how we allow perfectionism to ruin our time studying the Word of God. We make rules about the environment we have to set. The amount of time that we have to devote to reading and a whole host of other stipulations. We allow being perfect to make us feel inadequate when our study time looks nothing like we envisioned OR we fail to even start because we’re paralyzed.
Perfectionism is rooted in fear. It’s this fear of not being good enough. It rears its head whenever we feel inadequate for the task at hand. However, when we truly embrace the gospel, it shuts out fear (1 John 4:18). We understand that we are limited BUT GOD. God’s grace and mercy and love cover that shortcoming. When our souls truly embrace that truth, we can fearlessly approach whatever God has called us to do, even study the Bible.
God just wants us to seek Him.
Yes, God requires a contrite heart and a willing spirit, but not perfectionism. When you approach your Bible study with a posture of humility and eagerness, you will find life to be more fruitful and the revelations so much deeper. Don’t allow perfectionism to place stipulations on dwelling in the Bible. God will use your study time to ensure that His word does not return void. Just keep coming back, just as you are.
Perfectionism, Not required.
REFLECT – Has perfectionism impacted your ability to walk fearlessly?
