God Does Not Expect Us To Be Perfect

Cynthia Williams

So, the cat is out of the bag! I'm not perfect! Does that make me a hypocrite? Before I became a Christian, I thought all Christians were hypocrites. Weren't they supposed to be angels?

From what I saw, those who claimed to be Christians, were far from perfect. In my opinion they all must have been hypocrites!

I think many of us still have that kind of perception of what a Christian should be. Even as Christians, I believe many of us hold ourselves to this notion of perfection, defining what we should be. I know for several years I did.

Then one day I read a bumper sticker that caught my attention. It really spoke to my heart. It stated something like this, "Christians aren't perfect but they are forgiven."

That statement hit me like a feather! What a soft place to fall when I mess up. So what, if I'm not perfect! I don't have to be perfect!

Thank God, Jesus always intercedes for us, and His grace is sufficient for us. Because of Jesus, I can be forgiven and let him help me to be changed as he sees best, in his time.

Thank God, I no longer have to feel like a hypocrite or beat myself up emotionally when I make a bad choice or give into temptation. I can simply repent of my wrong doing, ask God to forgive me, then pick myself up, dust off the dirt, stop crying and move forward in his love and  amazing grace.
There is a scripture in 1st John 1:9 that tells us, when we ask God for forgiveness, he is faithful to forgive us. Psalm 103:12 tells us he has removed our sin from us, as far as the east is from the west.

I'm sure that doesn't mean I can just go around knowingly and purposely choosing to sin, but when I do fail, God is still there lovingly, forgiving me, encouraging me to do better next time, just as we would our children.