Grace

It's okay to not be perfect. Really!

Everyone is human, with a sinful nature and makes mistakes. Everyone. 

But the great thing about that is, God's grace will cover all of our imperfections if we only accept his forgiveness and allow Christ to be our savior. 

http://sunnyskiies.tumblr.com/post/56739777491/spiritualinspiration-for-by-grace-you-have-been

Ephesians 2:8-9 says 'For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.'

The dictionary definition of grace is 'a manifestation of favor, especially by a superior'. (Www.dictionary.com)

God shows us his favor in forgiving us freely. Why on earth would he do that?  Because he loves us sooooooo much and wants to repair the relationship between God and man that were broken by sin. (John 3:16) He is willing to grant us favor in order so that we can know him better. 

He says 'I know you're a sinner. You've messed up. A lot. You aren't perfect. But I know that and I love you anyway. Please let me fix things! I'm the only one who can.'

But when we accept that grace, we have to leave it at that. We can't continue to try to get to God through our works. There is absolutely nothing that we can do to bridge the gap between us and God by ourselves. We can never be strong enough, good enough, loving enough, hard working- whatever it is that we try to be perfect at, we can't do it. We can never be perfect and trying to be perfect will only lead to a lot of hurt, discouragement and pain. 

Romans 11:5-6 says 'So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. (NIV)' 

We have to let grace be grace. We can't continue to live as though we are the ones that make the relationship right once we've accepted God's grace. Let him take care of making things right and just do your part- accepting his love and grace. 

~Moriah