Do you put pressure on yourself to be perfect?
Do you put pressure on yourself to be perfect? Yeah, me too. I used to think that God was the voice in my head pushing me, shaming me, telling me I could do better... and then I realized that was me. And I felt Holy Spirit ask me this question “I love you, but do you love yourself?”
Loving and accepting myself started to happen when I realized that there’s not one right way to be a woman, a wife, a mom. Culture tries to tell us there is, but we don’t need to listen. I was an artist and new mom on the road living my life in public and trying to figure out how to fulfill all the roles I found myself in and not let anyone down. But It turns out I was letting myself down in the process, by not honoring the way God made me. The moments I felt like a failure were when I was trying to live my life according to someone else’ rules, and ignoring Holy Spirit and my intuition. I had all this guilt for dragging my kids around the country, chasing my dreams, when in fact it was what God had called me to and equipped us for! I had to break my agreement with that lie and replace it with the truth that my boys were getting to live a rich and adventurous life, and more than a “perfect” mom they needed an obedient mom. Do you need to identify a few lies you’ve believed about yourself?
God is really clear about a few things in scripture most of which can be summed up by; love God, love people. In terms of living our everyday lives, we have been given a lot of room to play. If our heart is to love God from the center of who we are and live life responding to Him, then we can have fun doing it and let a lot of the pressure we put on ourselves drop.
So here’s a few questions I ask myself in the middle of the day to day decisions;
Am I listening to God and my gut?
Am I asking Holy Spirit for wisdom when feel stressed, or am I plowing through on my own?
Am I taking my cues from social media or from Holy Spirit?
Does my inner life match my outer life?
There is so much freedom to be found in going after the life you want, and not letting others define what that looks like. Let God love you, love Him back, and let the pressure go!
- Jodi King