amazing grace part 1

I'm a perfectionist. I will admit it. For years, it was something that I jokingly referred to as part of my personality, never really admitting that it was an area that I needed to submit to Scripture. It wasn't until this summer on a mission trip that I realized it was something God needed to set me free from.
When I act like a perfectionist, I pretend like I can make myself perfect. I place that pressure on myself in regard to my Christian walk as well. I would always beat myself up when I sinned, as if I was making God look bad. I expected myself to be perfect and felt like a failure when I wasn't. Basically, I was miserable on and off for years.
Not to say that I never struggle with this now, but God recently opened my eyes to Romans 8:1-2 and what it means for people like me who struggle with perfectionism. "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death."
I am free!! I am free from feeling like I have to be perfect for God to love me! I have been freed from a life of self-condemnation..that is what the Gospel is all about-realizing that God's love for me doesn't change with what I do. Just like God doesn't love me more when I do great things for Him, he doesn't love me less when I screw up. The quality of my relationship with Him might change, but His love for me never does. It was the most freeing thing in the world for me to realize that because of Christ's sacrifice for me, God looks at me with a love that never changes. It frees me to live my life without a fear of failure. God has saved me to live a life of grace. Hallelujah!