I’ve been trying to write this devotional for several weeks now. I have written and re-written many different drafts. Then I sat and reflected on these verses:

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1–2)

You see, I tend to be a perfectionist putting a lot of pressure on myself. When I don’t get something just right, I can fall into self-condemnation and loathing. But absorbing the full weight of these verses relieved me from that pressure. It near brought me to tears!

Peace, grace, and hope are all mine through our Lord Jesus Christ, whose perfection overrides my imperfections. Jesus lived a perfect life because there is no way I can. I cannot be perfect, but I can by faith stand in grace and revel in the peace I have with God and delight in the hope of glory with Him in eternity. Fixing my thoughts more on Jesus and less on my failures melts my self-condemning heart. The tension in my shoulders releases, my breathing slows down, and the pressure of perfectionism fades away.

After several years of supervising other global workers, I know I’m not alone in this struggle. Workers for the Great Commission tend to place a lot of pressure on themselves by way of high standards and unrealistic expectations. Whether it is language learning, cultural adaptation, or seeing ministry fruit, we can easily fall into self-condemnation and loathing when things don’t turn out as we hoped. Add on top of that the expectations we perceive from our supporters and sending agency, and we can really put pressure on ourselves.

When those moments come, take time to reflect on these verses. Peace, grace, and hope are waiting there for you. And that grace we stand in can be the grace we give ourselves knowing our Saviour was perfect for us.