For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious
standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did
this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. Romans 3: 23-24 (NLT)
My brother Butch got a dartboard when he was a young teen. He would practice throwing darts to hit the little center circle. I watched with intrigue and wanted to give it a try. He let me. I stood still, took aim, and let that dart fly--right into my brother's knee! I watched with horror as he pulled it out, and the blood trickled down his leg! Hence, I was never allowed to try again.
My whole life has been a series of aiming for perfection and missing the mark. My quilt has a crooked seam, my meal gets burned, I hit the wrong key in my piano piece, I run too slow or speak too fast, my test grade fell short, and the list goes on and on. I don't know if it's me or if I compare myself to the company I keep, and they seem so much better than me.
To make matters worse, I worship and adore a God who is perfect in every way. How can I ever live up to those standards? I try to be the ideal little follower but miss the mark. I feel as if God may be somewhat discouraged with my performance.
Is this truly what God wants from us, perfection? God already provided excellence through His Son, Jesus. By God's grace, Christ takes on our wrongs to make us right in God's sight. When God sees us, He doesn't see our failures but sees the perfect One within us. We are free from the penalty of our sins.
Jesus hit the mark dead center so that we don't have to. No matter how much we practice, we will always fall short of God's glory. However, we should not let our failures determine who we are, nor should we let our failures give us a ticket to defeat.
God's aim for us was made clear through the words of Jesus when He said, "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other." John 13:34 With God's help, we can aim for this goal.
Dear Lord, Thank you for loving us even in our imperfect state. Help us to love you and others more every day. Through Christ, I pray, Amen.
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