{Day 22} From Perfectionism to Relationalism

Okay, okay...I know I slacked off...again. Days 19-21 just didn't end up happening. This month has just been insane. I'd planned on coming home on Friday night after a birthday party and writing a post, but then at the birthday party I got a surprise. My Aunt Carla had flown in for the weekend, just for the baby shower. Then Saturday, the hubs and I had our birthing class, followed by an evening with Carla, Dad, my sister and her boyfriend. Sunday was jam packed with church (all morning), our baby shower (right after church), then small group in the evening. So my brain was pretty zapped from all the excitement/activity and the last thing I would have been able to do was concentrate on a post. I chose to, instead, focus on the blessing that this weekend was.

Anyway, onto today's topic.

How many times in a day do we feel that our walk with God comes down to a list. The list that says I need to do this, that and the other. So long as each of these things get done, I'm on the right path.

What happens when that's all our walk becomes about? When the list is the gauge to how we're doing when it comes to our relationship with God? What would happen if we turned our "to do" list into so much more?

On the other side of the coin. What happens when we spend so much time praying to, worshipping and loving God, that we forget that we are called to do some work. Whether on ourselves or on others?

Sure, I believe that this our faith can be demonstrated by doing such things, but are we not also called to look within ourselves to "fix" what needs to be fixed in our lives? What about looking beyond ourselves to the needs of others?

I believe that we are neither saved only by works, but also by faith. The two coinciding together create more than just a perfectionist faith. What we tend to find in the perfectionist faith is the to do list. I need to pray, read my Bible, worship, help so-and-so,  and so forth.

On the other hand, when we mix the perfectionism with the love God has placed in us for Him, we get a relational faith. I believe this is the type of faith that we are all called to. Not the strict "to do list" way of life, but a love motivated doing. Not an I-gotta-get-this-done-or-else mentality, but an I-want-to-do-this-out-of-my-love-for-Him mentality.


How much would our lives changed if rather than be motivated (or demotivated) by our to do list, we instead found ourselves motivated to do things out of the love we've found in Him?