Thursday, September 18, 2014

A Perfect Life

"You have such a perfect life."  Those are the words slung at me recently.  Words that bruised my Soul.  Not a compliment, but more like a punch-in-the-gut.

The words haunt me.  The thought that my life is perceived as perfect doesn't bother as much as the idea that -- if that perception doesn't point people to Jesus -- then I've failed.

I believe the "perfect life" comment came from the perception of things posted online and small conversations had in various social settings --- because when you look at what's posted on FB and Instagram or what is written on a blog --- my life may seem perfect.

-- Truth is --
the picture we show the whole world is never the whole picture.

But the comment stirs up the question >>>
Is my Life pointing people to Jesus?

If someone looks at my life and deems it "Perfect", but doesn't see that all that I have and all that I am comes from my heavenly Father -- if His goodness, faithfulness and love aren't made known to others by what I say and do --
if my Life doesn't point people to Jesus
then no matter how Perfect it appears
it's all  m e a n i n g l e s s.

My life is not perfect in the way the comment was meant -- 
that kind of perfection is an illusion

I fail at a thousand things in a day. Even though I don't glorify the ugly parts through pictures, posts and casual conversations, that doesn't mean all is Perfect. What is posted online or said in conversation at a party is not the sum total of what's going on in my Life --- but those are the things that display the goodness of the Lord in my Life.  

All that I am, I owe to Jesus.  All that I have is His.

The thing is ---

if we aren't pointing people to Jesus 
with how we live our lives 
with how we use the gifts He's given us  
then it's all for  N o t h i n g 

because

the purpose of Life is to point people to Him

--- to G l o r i f y His name ---

The Truth is ... we have been given much and we are thankful for every Gift our Father has bestowed on us.  But because we have been given much, we are also held accountable for  M U C H.

It's not an easy Road, although many think it must be.
It's not a perfect Life, but a blessed one.
The struggle is real --- even for me.

My life is not Perfect as some would suppose --- 
but I will strive
// to point people to Jesus //
// to SHOW the world the goodness of my Savior // 
// to be thankful for His provision and His blessings //
// to work to accomplish His purpose in my Life //
// to bring Him glory in all I do // 


and if that happens to look like a  P E R F E C T  life --- 
then maybe I'm doing alright after-all.