Inadequate

Here is a hard to swallow fact; We as humans are quite simply imperfect. Nothing we do will ever truly reach a state of perfection, let alone a consistent state of perfection. Every time we try, we fail. No matter what we do, we will NEVER be perfect. I recognise that this is a pretty depressing fact, but I promise that there is fruitfulness to this.

It is very common to feel like a failure when trying to be faithful to God. I’ve tried many strategies and techniques to enact good habits within my life so that I can consistently pray to God to show my love for Him, yet each time I have tried, I’ve failed. It even reached a point where I’d end each day feeling utterly disappointed in myself for not doing the things I had planned. Feeling like a failure was an understatement; I felt inadequate.

Another fact that I’d like to mention is that God loves us infinitely. As fallen beings of constant shortcomings, nothing we do will ever be perfect. But the fact remains that God loves us infinitely and unconditionally. Do you think God’s love for each of us is tainted when we fail to pray as much as we should, or we fail in our promises to Him? Of course not! Nothing we do will ever repay God for His infinite, constant and unfailing love, yet He still loves us. So how would stubbornness, perfectionism and cruelty ever help us? God doesn’t strike us with lightning when we mess up, but instead He gently leads us back to His heart.

Pride is important to recognise in any feeling of inadequacy. We are weak and imperfect, but being angry at ourselves for this is nothing more than prideful stubbornness. We choose to pridefully believe the lie that we are above failure. To believe that failure is beneath us is to believe that we don’t need help or saving, which is to believe we are a god. All pride stems from the belief in our hearts that we are perfect and better than God, and that we are not in need of God’s saving grace. As our loving Father, God desires for us to lean on Him in everything. Rather than allowing our pride to tell us that we are inadequate, we must trust in the love of God, thus recognising our dignity and value.

I believe that gentleness is integral in achieving a firm and Godly foundation within our lives. Instead of getting riled up when we fail, we need to set aside our pride, humbly and gently recognising that we are weak, imperfect, and in need of saving. In humility, we recognise that not only do skills and/or habits need time to grow, but in every pursuit of growth God must remain central. God invites us to freely choose to rely on Him in everything we do. By humbly being gentle with ourselves, we recognise the abundant need for God the Father within our lives. This humble recognition needs to be met with an open invitation to God’s grace. When we allow God the Father to fulfill His role as our Heavenly Father, we love God by accepting our identity as His children. As children of God, we experience true growth in goodness and holiness – a feat that is impossible without the grace and providence of God our Father.

In essence, we are not perfect. God loves us in every way, desiring for us to lean on Him in everything. In our lowest moments, God loves us with all His heart irrespective of whether we fail or succeed. We must open our hearts to God’s love and grace, for in this act we choose to love God by letting Him fulfill His role as our loving, heavenly Father. In allowing God to be our Father, we allow ourselves to live as His dependant and loving children. So as children of God, be humbly gentle. We will make copious mistakes yet amidst these failures, we must allow the love of God to reign supreme within our hearts as He is so proud of us for attempting to grow closer to Him. Despair has no hold, only hope and love. In every attempt at holiness ask for the grace of God our Father, for only perfection and growth is achieved through Him.

“yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.”

Galatians 2:15-16

“You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

James 2:24