Striving to do better is a good thing, but we must try to have realistic expectations. Everything in life isn’t black or white; there are grey areas and some ‘in-betweens’. Everything can’t be perfect all the time, and everything isn’t horrible all the time. When we get things wrong, we need to hold on to the fact that we’re not perfect, but God loves and accepts us even with our flaws and all the mistakes we make. To keep our joy in life, we need to accept that we won’t be perfect all the time, and neither will the people or things around us. When we expect perfection from life and from ourselves, we tend to expect the same from other people. If our expectations aren’t met, our disappointment can put too much pressure on the people we care about and can eventually destroy those relationships. The apostle James said we all stumble, fall, and offend in many things. So if we all make mistakes – and we do – we need to learn to accept that it’s just part of being human, and relax. We’re often told to be accepting of other people and to avoid judging them. Romans 15:7 says, ‘Accept each other just as Christ has accepted you’ (NLT), and Matthew 7 begins, ‘Do not judge, or you too will be judged’ (v.1 NIV). But what we forget is that we need to be more accepting of our own flaws and the imperfect areas of our lives. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to improve them, but we don’t need to feel pressured to strive to be perfect, because God loves us just as we are.

What Now?

Write down any unrealistic expectations you have about yourself. Go through your list with God, handing each thing over to Him. Thank Him for His love, and simply rest in His acceptance for a few minutes. Then give yourself a break too!