Lopsided Living Values Progress over Perfection

Welcome to Day 8 of 31 Simple Ways to Embrace Lopsided Living!

Today, maybe you have a list a mile long of things you want to get done this weekend. Or maybe you are looking back at last week and feeling like you did nothing that really matters. Can I tell you this, I sooooo relate. I do the same thing. And that is where principles like this make a difference — pushing me back into the Truth of God's Word helps me battle the lies that can so easily take root in my heart and mind. Here's my challenge to you, the simple way I'm inviting you to embrace lopsided living today: CELEBRATE THE PROGRESS!

On Saturdays, I’ll be recapping the week’s posts and sharing a overarching principle of Lopsided Living.

We began our journey by recognizing there is a better way to live a fuller life.

From there John 10:10 helped us understand in Christ we have abundance, not scarcity.

We spent five days looking at five truths of Lopsided Living:

Begin with Loving God Most

Understand how to Live at Rest

Locate & Use Pockets of Time Wisely

Learn Contentment

Listen Well

Which bring us to today’s overarching principle:

Lopsided Living values progress over perfection.

One of the great struggles of my life is perfectionism. I have this ridiculously high expectation of myself and when I can’t reach it {because, duh, ridiculously high is code for completely unattainable}, I beat myself up. A lot. And I give the committee in my head plenty of leeway to say what they will … and what they usually say isn’t kind or true.

Maybe you know of which I speak? Or maybe you have “a friend” who does?

The apostle Paul was well versed in the ways of legalism and getting it all done. He knew all about high standards and living under the demands of expectations. And then he met Jesus and everything changed.

Read over these verses a couple of times:

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

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

How did Paul move from being a perfectionistic Pharisee to writing those words?

He found freedom — the freedom to be in progress, to press on, and to allow God to do the work of transforming him into the image of Christ.

Today, maybe you have a list a mile long of things you want to get done this weekend. Or maybe you are looking back at last week and feeling like you did nothing that really matters. Can I tell you this, I sooooo relate. I do the same thing. And that is where principles like this make a difference — pushing me back into the Truth of God's Word helps me battle the lies that can so easily take root in my heart and mind. Here's my challenge to you, the simple way I'm inviting you to embrace lopsided living today: CELEBRATE THE PROGRESS!

Jesus said, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (see John 8:31-38). The truth is, our identity isn’t in who we are but in who He is. And our worth isn’t in what we’ve done but in what He has done and what He will continue to do in us. In Christ, we have the same freedom as Paul found — to be in progress, to trust Him to do the necessary work in us.

Here’s my challenge to you, the simple way I’m inviting you to embrace lopsided living today:

CELEBRATE THE PROGRESS!

I don’t know what that means specifically for you. It could be that you only have three loads of laundry to finish but you’ve got two already done — progress. Or maybe you didn’t have a quiet time every day this week but you did do it a few days — progress.  Perhaps you weren’t as patient with your kids as you wanted to be but you did sit with them and play Legos for thirty minutes when you really wanted to do almost anything else — progress.

#LopsidedLiving values progress over perfection! Click To Tweet

Baby steps, y’all, baby steps.

Living lopsided,

Teri Lynne

Yesterday’s post: Listen well.

Tomorrow’s post: We are works in progress {and that’s okay!}.

Index to every post here.

Read the Psalms this summer with Scripture Dig!

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