Our Father God is Patient
We were at summer camp watching our daughter in amazement.
At eight years old, she was playing tetherball and beating boys older than her. At first, they were just a year or two older, but then a couple others stepped up who were clearly bigger and stronger.
She still beat one or two of them, but finally lost to a boy four years older than her.
As we were walking away, I asked her how it felt to lose that match.
She seemed to relax as she stated: “It’s nice to know you’re not the best in the world.”
Apparently, trying to be perfect carries with it a weight that we were never meant to bear.
Mind you, even though we (as her parents) were amazed at how well she was doing, we had no illusion that she was the best in the world. Where’d she get that idea from?
In the moment, our daughter verbalized what she was beginning to feel: the pressure of living up to a standard of performance.
Don’t we all feel that way at times? It even happens in church. Whether the message is overt in a legalistic sense, or whether it is more subtle, we can begin to feel pressure to live up to certain standards.
God does not place unrealistic expectations on us. Why do we put them on ourselves?
Simply put, it’s a result of sin. I don’t mean any specific sin. Rather, it is the result of being born spiritually dead in sin and learning to follow the ways of the world to achieve acceptance from others. (see Ephesians 2:1-3)
After the original sin in the Garden, God asked Adam a question: “Where are you?” The question was not from a lack of knowledge on God’s part. Instead, it was a diagnostic question for Adam to consider.
Adam’s response was, “I heard You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” (Genesis 3:10, CSB)
In general, our imperfections cause us to feel ashamed, or at least vulnerable (naked). So, the world, flesh, and devil tell us to hide those imperfections as a way of protecting ourselves from rejection. We do this in a variety of ways, from pursuing status to seeking after love to gaining wealth. Others try to work hard to make up for their mistakes. Still others deny their failures or imperfections so long that they come to believe they are never wrong. When we try to hide these things, it results in what the Bible calls ‘walking in darkness.’
But this striving for perfection is self-imposed. Our loving heavenly Father is under no illusion that any of us are ‘the best in the world.’
That is why He sent His Son, Jesus. Only He is sinless and perfect (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus is the “propitiation for our sins” which means that Jesus became the sacrificial offering that turned away the wrath of God from us. Without Jesus, we would still be slaving away under a man-made system of works-based righteousness.
The Apostle John wrote, “Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to You: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him. If we say, “We have fellowship with Him”, and walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. (1 John 1:5-10, CSB)
Our pastor recently pointed out that when we say we have no sin—put on a mask and pretend that we’re perfect—we are, in essence, lying to others (verse 6). This progresses to self-deception (verse 8). The final result of our pretending to ‘have it all together’ is that we call God a liar (verse 10).
Instead, God invites us to freely acknowledge our sin and mistakes. When we confess our sins (which simply means agree with God that what we’ve done is wrong), “He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, CSB) The truth is that “if we walk in the light… we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7, CSB)
Dear Saints, our heavenly Father is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and full of faithful love” (Psalm 103:8 CSB) He is patient towards us when we sin. We have no need to pretend, or to try to be something we are not. We can be honest and walk in the light before God and one another. In fact, it’s when we share our vulnerabilities in safe relationships that we experience connection with God and others. Relax—no one is expecting you to be ‘the best in the world.’ 😉
I renounce the lie that You, Father God, reject me when I fail to live a perfect or sinless life.
I choose to believe the truth that You, Father God are patient toward me and cleanse me when I fail. (Proverbs 24:16; 1 John 1:7-2:2) – Neil T. Anderson, The Steps to Freedom in Christ, p. 13