At the end of the day, you need to realize you are simply God’s kid. So take a deep breath and let His love begin to heal you and accept you, for who you are as His child, not for what you do.
The first step is to get grounded in God’s love.
If you’ve accepted Jesus Christ and the work of the cross, you’re God’s kid.
At the end of the day, before you are a mom, dad, pastor, preacher, teacher, administrator, worker, business person, you’re just a kid!
That kicks the pressure off. I’m just a kid in Daddy’s playground, learning and growing each day.
1 John 4:17-18 is a great place for meditation. Let’s look at what it says. “Love has been perfected among us in this…” In what? In that you strive to do things? That you’re finally holy? That you’ve finally read through the whole Bible? That you’ve finally gotten through all your problems? No. It says, “Love is perfected among us in this, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world.”
What’s the Bible saying here? The Bible’s saying that love is truly perfected when you run up to God, in His holiness, bold in your approach; not because you are perfect, but because you know you are His child!
Fear Drives Perfectionism
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.” (1 John 4:18) Fear drives perfectionism. The shift has to be made from performance into loving relationship where you are accepted right where you are, right now.
If mankind will not accept you, that is their sin. That is their responsibility before God. Do not take that on as your own sin. Do not take that on as your own rejection. You are accepted in His eyes, and a deep understanding of this precept is so empowering.
“He who fears has not been made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18 NKJV) Let me declare something to you: we get perfected in love. You want to be perfect? Get perfected by being loved. Sounds foreign to so many, but that’s His Kingdom. You get perfect by being loved on.
When you are not loved, you feel you have to be perfect and perform to be loved. You reverse the mindset of God. Do you see the twisting? The reversal? God says – acceptance first, then you live. The enemy says, “No! You need to live your whole life to achieve that acceptance somewhere over the rainbow, and you will never find it. We are called to live from acceptance, not for it.
It’s Time to Address Our Insecurities
We begin to gain freedom by confessing our insecurities and feelings of inadequacy to God. This is the discipleship journey that I will address over and over again. Is there a tendency in your life to cover up things with good deeds? Do you find yourself hiding in weakness? Do you feel like you have to cover up your flaws? Is the pressure making you angry with yourself and with others?
I say this as a declaration: it’s time to put our insecurities on notice because the clock is ticking. It is time for those demonic spirits that accuse us and push us down to be put on notice. Their day of reckoning is coming. They are slowly and methodically being moved out and God is setting us free to be His kids once and for all. In this you have to remember, most of your battles with the enemy regarding your relationships and who you are, revolve around insecurity.
We pray that God gives you a revelation and understanding of His true identity over your life today!