Romans 3:23 tells us we all fall short of the glory of God. This means we all sin and mess up. It's part of living in a fallen world. Since this is true, there is no reason for us to worry about falling short because all our shortcomings, sins, and mess-ups have been forgiven in the sight of God through Jesus. Once we have placed faith in Jesus, we no longer have to worry about falling short because we have been forgiven.
Unattainable Goals
Many of us hold ourselves to unattainable goals. We can struggle with perfectionism or the desire never to mess up. While many people struggle with this, we don't need to allow it to fill our hearts. As Romans 3:23 tells us, we all sin and fall short. Striving for perfection is unrealistic, and we will only hurt ourselves in the process. Jesus Himself tells us that only God is perfect; therefore, there is no way for us to strive for perfection.
As someone who has struggled with perfectionism for many years, I know how scary it can be to worry about falling short or messing up. I stayed with multiple missionary families during a mission trip a few years ago. The first missionary family really helped me abandon perfectionism, and I could not be more thankful for them. During my first week there, I was struggling with homesickness and shared many of my struggles with them. I told them I was afraid of messing up since this was my first mission trip.
Rather than shrugging off my feelings, one of the missionaries told me it was okay to mess up. He said we all mess up from time to time, but it's what we create from our mistakes that matters. Since he shared this profound truth with me, I haven't struggled with perfectionism as much. He was right–we all mess up. It's part of being human. God didn't create us to be perfect. Rather, He created and declared us to be "good"--not perfect. After the fall of man, we were all infected with sin, and this has caused us to mess up, hurt others, and fall short.
Even though we can be capable of great things, we can also be capable of great evils. Through our sinful nature, we all constantly fall short. It's not because we are not good enough, but rather that none of us can live up to God's standards. God commands a life free of sin. This isn't attainable as humans are born into sin and freely sin. Only by placing faith in Jesus as our Savior and Lord can we be forgiven of our sins and a new life in Him.
Once we place faith in Jesus, God no longer sees us as fallen, sinful human beings. Rather, He sees His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. This way, we don't need to fall short because Jesus has us covered. From the time we accept Jesus, our sins are forgiven, and we can start living for God. This means we follow God's teachings and do our best not to sin. We will all continue to sin because it is part of our sinful nature, but we shouldn't want to sin against God.
Falling Short
I had a college professor who influenced me in my theological views and disciplined me in my walk with Christ. During one of his lectures, he shared with the class just how unreasonable it is to believe that we will never sin. Addressing legalistic views being held by my peers, my professor sought to show them how depraved mankind actually is. My professor pointed out the truth that Jesus tells us if we just think of sin, it is a sin (Matthew 5:28-29). From this, we can see roughly how many times we sin daily.
I don't know about you, but I fall short daily. I get irritable, I get angry, and I sometimes say hurtful things. Even if we just think of a hurtful word or comment, it is still a sin. We might never act on sin, but we are equally guilty even if we just think about sin. This means we are all deep in our sin–not just because we are born into it, but because we freely choose to sin. We will all continue to fall short of God's glory; however, Jesus is there to build us back up.
Resting in Jesus
We can rest in Jesus because all our sins have been forgiven through Him. Placing faith in Jesus is not a license to sin. Rather, placing faith in Jesus needs to be something you do out of the decision in your heart. If you only place faith in Jesus to keep sinning, you haven't really placed faith in Him. When you believe in Jesus and accept Him as your Savior and Lord, you must do it out of a pure heart.
In other words, you should accept Him and place faith in Him because of your love for Him. Jesus loves all of us, and He wants us all to believe in Him. However, once we know Him, we shouldn't want to keep sinning. Instead, we should want to do the right thing and choose to obey Him. As mentioned, we will all continue to sin, but through the Holy Spirit in us, He can help us fight against the temptation to sin.
Therefore, we don't need to worry about falling short because we have been made complete in Christ. We are enough because of Him. Without Jesus, we are left in a state of sin and darkness, which will never be forgiven unless we turn to Him. Once we turn to Him and repent of our sins, we can truly follow Him as He wants us to. Don't stress about falling short or messing with us because we all do. It's part of being human, and it is something that we will continue to do until we are with Christ.
It is also important to not worry about not measuring up or being "good enough" because we are already good enough as we are. Our minds like to play tricks on us and cause us to doubt; however, we need to remind ourselves that we are good enough because of Jesus. In Jesus, we are given completeness and security. We never need to worry or stress about falling short because God has forgiven us through Jesus.
If you are stressing about falling short today, give it to God. Tell Him about your worries and ask Him to help you in this struggle. Whether you struggle with perfectionism, a deep desire never to mess up, or a goal not to sin, give yourself grace. Nobody is perfect, and nobody can measure up to the righteous standards of God. The good news is that even though we can't, Jesus can, and He has. By placing faith in Jesus, we no longer need to worry about falling short because we are complete in Him and are given forgiveness for our sins.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/ThomasVogel
