Living Gracefully

We've made mistakes. And it hurts. Sometimes we just don't know what to do with the guilt of our actions and the impossible standard of perfection we feel like we have to meet.

Receiving grace and forgiving yourself in a perfectionist mentality is not an easy task. I approach this topic uncomfortably because it is not mastered overnight.

I have learned that a balance of grace and conviction is needed, but having grace and perfectionism in the right perspective is important. First, one must note that perfectionism is unrealistic, but conviction is a gift of the Holy Spirit. 

Along the road of struggles for perfection, which is a highly unrealistic ideal for a human being, we face temptation. Daily temptations, whether “big” or “small”, if they are even categorizable, confront our minds and have the potential to leak into our hearts. How these convictions are perceived is a vibrant feature that can either protect us or harm us. We can either be stuck in sin because of shame or be free by protection because of grace. By that I mean that there is a pinpoint of abusing grace, refusing to accept grace, or living gracefully that we must eventually meet.

Abusing grace would have the masked face of a guilty conscience that follows through with temptations of a selfish desire, but with the certainty that everything is covered.

Refusing to accept grace would be the masked face that feels unworthy, unvalued, and unforgivable. It is the stuck state. Maybe they stop the potential threats because of guilt, yet beat themselves up or maybe they continue in their current state thinking, “What does it matter anymore? I’m in too deep…” Their heart calls, “Help!” but they refuse to believe that the hand of God is graciously reaching out to them.

On the other hand, living gracefully is walking in the grace of God, letting go of the imperfection of yourself, and breathing in the perfection of Christ. It is living grace out. It sees the beauty of grace and tries to be like it so as not to abuse it, but it is at peace when the time comes to fall into it when the standard has not been met. The people who live gracefully use the grace as a soft stepping stool to try again. 

Because of Jesus, we can always have grace that covers every flaw. Each of these approaches does not prohibit the grace of God, they just limit its fullest potential.

Living gracefully gives you the most freedom in Christ.