From the outside, everyone thought my life seemed perfect. I had good friends, got good grades, was involved in sport and clubs at my school, volunteered around my town and at my church, and I always had a smile on my face. Some of my friends even jokingly called me “Miss Perfect”. I had grown up in church. I knew the Bible stories and all the “right” answers but hadn’t experienced God personally or felt him close in a long time. 

Even though things always seemed perfect on the outside, I was very very broken on the inside. While others saw me and my life one way I saw it another. All I saw was failure. So I worked harder and harder not seeing my own value.    One night, my Mom asked me to tell her one thing that I like about myself and I could not name one thing. The reality was, I hated myself. I didn’t like one thing about myself and I couldn’t name a single thing that I thought I was good at.    I continued to put on a mask for people, putting on a smile when inside I was a mess.    I had remembered that God had used the Bible in the past to help me during hard times so I decided I would start reading my Bible each day searching for God, and searching for truth in who I was.    God met me through the Bible. It didn’t happen all at once, it took time but slowly He revealed to me truth about His character and His grace and His love as well as truth about who I am. That I am perfected in Him and in Him alone. Truth that I am loved exactly as I am, no expectations. Truth that I do not have to work, I do not have to improve inorder to maintain his love.    Learning these truths changed my life forever. God gave me confidence in who he made me to be. He helped me to see myself and the world more clearly. He changed my heart. He taught me about his character and what a good God he is as well as his presence in my life and in the world today.    Me and my life still aren’t perfect and never will be, but that’s ok. Perfection isn’t gained through what I do or don’t do or how well I perform or how much I improve. We are made perfect through Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross and our identity found in him.    I have experienced so much freedom in my life now knowing that I do not have to be perfect to earn God’s love or forgiveness. He has already offered it to me as a gift. And he is just waiting for me to accept it.   If you want to hear more about the freedom found in Christ, your value in Him, and His love for you feel free to contact me, I would love to connect with you.