Permission to Be Imperfect: How to Strive Less, Stress Less, Sin LessSample

The Fuel for Growth

Nature often reflects spiritual principles. How things grow is one of them. Grass, for example, does not grow by someone tugging on blades. A caterpillar does not push and pull inside of its cocoon to transform into a butterfly. No, many things in nature grow as they are designed to simply by being in the right environment. You are no different. You are designed by God to grow and change in all kinds of ways. The most meaningful of these changes, however, don’t happen through works and willpower. They happen effortlessly through grace.

I know, effortless growth by grace may seem too good to be true. As we have already explored, one reason it works is because it removes the pressure or fear of failure that weakens you. Grace assures that you are good with God, with no buts, asterisks, or disclaimers. “Unfailing love” is another way that the New Testament describes this. Unfailing love is not only a quality of God, but it is who He is and how He revealed Himself through Jesus (see John 1:14; 1 John 4:8). It’s no surprise, then, that Paul spoke of God’s love as the highest-octane fuel for growth.

In what many Bible translations title as “Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Growth,” Paul prayed: “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God” (Ephesians 3:19). Notice that Paul’s prayer for spiritual growth says nothing about do more, be more. Rather, he encourages believers to experience God’s love. Wholeness, power, and the best qualities of life grow from that, he said.

Love’s effect isn’t only spiritual. It is observed even at the cellular level. Scientists have discovered something called a “love hormone,” which is activated when one experiences—or even perceives—love. So far, research shows that love contributes to all kinds of growth from the womb to the end of life.

You were made by love with love and for love. Like grass that receives the right sunlight, water, and soil, or a caterpillar that is placed in the right environment for the right amount of time, you too grow and change effortlessly when you get what you were designed for—love. That’s why I say that the goal of the Christian life isn’t to be better, but it’s to be loved.

Do you wonder, “How do I be loved?” That’s a great question to answer on the final day of this reading plan. Until tomorrow, though, ask yourself, “What aspects of my life have kept me from accepting God’s unconditional love?” Then consider the possible effects of embracing the truth that God loves you exactly the way you are.