A Perfect Picture

The past couple of weeks I have thought a lot about life’s circumstances, about desires, dreams, expectations and ideals; how each one of us are shaped differently both by our Creator and by different events and people in our lives. Not only do we look different, but we act different, dream different, like different things and process/handle things differently from others around us.

These differences are what make the world a beautiful place. God created us this way so we can all serve a purpose and unit as one body. 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 explains this perfectly. “…If the whole body were an eye, it would not be able to hear. If the whole body were an ear, it would not be able to smell. If each part of the body were the same part, there would be no body. But truly God put all the parts, each one of them, in the body as he wanted them. So then there are many parts, but only one body. … God wanted the different parts to care the same for each other. If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it. Or if one part of our body is honored, all the other parts share its honor. Together you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of that body.” Not one part of the body is more important or better than the other because they all serve a great purpose in keeping the body alive.

Christ’s bride is the Church and the Church is the body; the body created by each one of us uniting, embracing our given lives and gifts, and embracing the lives and gifts of others in order to glorify God to the fullest.

While these differences are what make the world a beautiful place, in our daily lives, we often see these differences as set backs and road blocks in our individual lives. Relationships, work, finances, nations, individuals themselves, productivity and all other aspects of our daily lives are greatly affected because of how we handle these differences. As a Christian we study God’s Word and begin to learn His ways, His thoughts; who He is. The more we spend time with God and in His Word, the more our thoughts, our ways and who we are reflect Him.

Through our continual growth in Christ, we are transformed from the inside out. When a situation occurs around me, I begin to understand more or less, ‘what Jesus would do’. I try to think not just what He would do, but how He would feel and what His thought process would be. Like in all relationships, we can only truly know someone when we spend time with them. The time I spend with my Father, my Lord, my Savior, allows me to better know Him, which allows me to better live for Him and with Him.

With this said, better understanding ‘what Jesus would do’, how He would feel and what His thought process might be is only the first step. “My heart is willing but my flesh is weak.” Even though I know the ‘right answers’ and I understand which path is the one I should take, doesn’t mean I always will make the right decision. I love my God and I try to follow Christ and live for Him, but I make mistakes. I fall, I stumble and I fall short every single day. Praise be to God though because every sin I make is washed away. Every time I fall, God is right there with me helping me up. I may stumble but I will not stay down. I may fail, but I will never be a failure. Through Christ we are made new!!

So here is where I am getting at (or at least trying to): If we stumble, why do we not give grace to those who stumble around us? Why do we not give a helping hand as Christ does? Why do we pass judgment that they aren’t walking with God? We all grow and mature at different rates and points in our lives. Ideally we would all be born and walk with God from our first breath on, but the fact is we live in a fallen world. We live in a world full of spiritual battles going on every day of our lives. Satan is trying to get at each one of us daily, but God is with us every one of them! And the best news is… He’s already won; the victory is Christ’s and His alone!! Amen to that and praise God!

So why do we judge others instead of love them? Why do we compare others with ourselves or others around us? We need to leave the judgment to God and if God doesn’t compare, neither should we. We need to learn to live our lives focused on God and God alone. We need to love others around us when they are walking, running and stumbling through the race of life. Our love needs to be the same no matter what stage of life they are in or we are in. I want to learn to respond to everything in love; God’s love.


God doesn’t compare us with others. He created us each uniquely and perfectly. As we give our life to God, He molds us to His image. God creates and molds us when and how He finds perfect. Why then do we dare judge His ways and timing for ourselves and others? Why do we compare ourselves with others, our lives with other lives? We all do it to some degree. The world we live in encourages us to want what we don’t have, to look like someone else, and to be who we are not meant to be. As in 1 Corinthians 12, if we were all an arm, how would the body function? If we were all a heart, how would the body function? If we were all the brain, how would the body function? Not one part of the body is more or less important than the others. Each part serves a purpose. God does not see one part of the body as ‘more important’ than the other, because each part serves Him in the way He knows will glorify Him the most. Whether we think these tasks are big or small, God sees them all the same. At this stage in my spiritual maturity, I believe that there is no service done through God’s request and calling that is bigger or smaller than the others.

An excerpt from a book I am reading, My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult, spoke to me strongly for some reason yesterday (it’s a pretty funny scene I thought…).

“I used to have pink hair,” I told Seven.
“I used to have a real job,” he answered.
“What happened to you?”
He shrugged. “I dyed my hair pink. What happened to you?”
“I let mine grow out,” I answered.
Seven wiped up a spill I’d made without noticing. “Nobody ever wants what they’ve got,” he said.

“Nobody ever wants what they’ve got,” that sounds about right. As humans, we tend to want what someone else has, be who someone else is, look like someone else; all the while judging others because they don’t have what we have, don’t act like we act and don’t look like we do.

I was talking to my friend Cathie yesterday about “picture perfect”. This conversation linked many thoughts I have been having about love, desires, God’s will, individual maturity, God’s timing, uniqueness, unity, one body, gifts, judgment, relationships... and all back to love. I ask myself, what is perfection? Webster’s definitions:


1 a: being entirely without fault or defect : flawless b: satisfying all requirements : accurate c: corresponding to an ideal standard or abstract concept d: faithfully reproducing the original ; specifically : letter-perfect e: legally valid
2 a: pure, total b: lacking in no essential detail : complete


We all have our different ideas of our perfect picture, our perfect day, our perfect job, relationship, family and ourselves. Our perfect picture isn’t necessarily someone else’s perfect picture. Because we live in this fallen world, we will never find the ‘perfect’ family, the ‘perfect’ spouse, the ‘perfect’ job, vacation, day, etc. We all are either running, walking or stumbling down our given road of life; sometimes all 3 at once it seems! None of us or our any part of our lives are perfect. As my friend Cathie put it yesterday, this perfection we long for can only be found through Christ. It is He that connects us all, makes us whole and allows HIS perfection to shine through our brokenness!

1 a: being entirely without fault or defect : flawless – (Through Christ we are a new creation; our sins have been washed away and we are made white as snow.)
b: satisfying all requirements : accurate (Only Christ was the perfect sacrifice; He died on the cross for our sins so that we may be saved and know the Father.)
c: corresponding to an ideal standard (see my notes below…)
d: faithfully reproducing the original (see my notes below…)
e: legally valid (Only Christ was the perfect sacrifice; He died on the cross for our sins so that we may be saved and know the Father.)
2 a: pure, total
b: lacking in no essential detail : complete (Nothing about us was left up to ‘chance’, God has fearfully and wonderfully created us, Psalm 139. Every detail of our life and ourselves God and created perfectly! Now it is up to us to allow Him to use it for good! Only God can fill that empty space in our hearts meant only for Him. Only God can make us complete and complete our lives!)

Christ is our ideal standard. Living for him, even though we stumble and fail, is living perfectly for Christ. Faithfully loving others and shining God’s love on them as we all stumble through life on earth is living perfectly through and for Christ.

Our desire for perfection; perfect lives and relationships, lies at Christ feet and ends in His pierced hands.