Be a Box-Breaker

Blog 2: Perfectionism

Opening Question: What are words you would use to identify yourself?

Bible Verse: 1 Peter 2:9

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light"

When I was little, I loved to play pretend. I would dress up and in my mind become someone new- sometimes I would be a teacher, sometimes I would be a mom, sometimes I would be a preacher, and my personal favorite- I would sometimes be a real estate agent. Obviously, as a child, I was just pretending in these roles. I was becoming someone else, imagining what life could look like as a grown-up.

Obviously, I don’t play pretend like I used to. But- I still force myself into roles that are not authentic to the real me; except this time it's much less enjoyable. When I was a child and playing pretend, my imagination flourished.

In the ways I ‘pretend’ now, my imagination is stifled. I put myself in a box where I have no room to move or grow.

The roles we put ourselves in, or the roles that others place us in, can become our identity, for better or worse. From the time I was little, I have been described as self-controlled. I always followed the rules; the last thing I would be described as was impulsive. In my mind, my self control and reliability was my identity. Now, as I am growing, I am having to deal with some real control issues, people pleasing, and perfectionism. What I thought was the perfect role for me, where I thought I comfortably fit, sometimes holds me back and can keep me from being who God created me to be.

God put SO much thought into creating us. He knows the amount of hairs on our head, He knew our whole life before we even came into the world. God knows US. He knows our pain, He knows our potential. God did not create us to fit into a nice, clean, and perfect role. He did not create us to shrink ourselves down to conform to others’ expectations or even our own expectations.

God created you so intricately. With so many beautiful gifts and passions, we were never meant to fit into only one role. You were created to be a box-breaker, a role-shifter, a wonderfully unique, fearfully made, child of God.

Prayer:

Dear God,

We praise you for the ways you have intricately created each of us- with purpose.

We are so sorry for the ways we have rejected the ways you have called us to live in order to fit into a role we were never meant to be in.

Thank you for the redemptive work you do within us- in order to help us be ‘box-breakers’.

Please help us live beyond the roles labeled on us everyday.

Amen.