By Briana Bass, Christian Romance Author, Devotional Writer & Certified Professional Coach

Spoiler alert: nobody’s perfect.

It sounds trite. It can even be hard to believe. We look at other people and we don’t always see their flaws. People don’t want to advertise their mistakes. But I promise, even the people who seem to have it all together and make the right choices every time are as far from perfect as you and I.

The illusion of perfection permeates so many Christian circles and churches. Honestly, it’s kind of off-putting. It creates an ideal that can never be achieved. For those of us who know we’re broken, it makes us feel like we’re not welcome. It makes us feel like we’re not worthy.

When you don’t feel worthy, you don’t just hesitate to attend church, you hesitate to have anything to do with God. You try to hide. You try to run. You turn away in shame.

I have good news, friend. God still loves you. You have worth even in your brokenness.

Practically Perfect in Every Way

God doesn’t expect perfection. God knows you are broken, and God loves you anyway. God uses me, and I’m broken. God can use you in your brokenness, too. We all fall short sometimes. We’re human, and human beings are not perfect.

One of the most famous human beings of all time is King David. David made serious mistakes and yet he remains one of the most revered kings in history. He committed adultery, assault, and murder, and God still used him. In fact, God used the Davidic line to bring us Jesus!

David lied to Ahimelek, which led to Ahimelek’s death (1 Samuel 21-22). David lusted after Bathsheba, took her against her will, and plotted her husband’s murder (2 Samuel 11). But David was also “a man after his (God’s) own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14 KJV) and wrote approximately half of the Psalms.

If God can use David, God can use you. If God can use me, God can use you!

Beauty in the Imperfections

No matter how broken you believe you are, God still welcomes you to His table. Why? Because His love is eternal. There is nothing you can do that would make God stop loving you.

You have inherent value simply because you exist. You matter to God because you are His beloved child. He knows you’re going to make mistakes. It’s okay. When you see Jesus face to face one day He is going to embrace you regardless of how badly you messed up here on Earth. Jesus was sent to us for a specific purpose: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,” (Luke 4:18 KJV).

Jesus came to heal us in our brokenness. He did not come to make us perfect, nor does He require perfection from us. Human beings are incapable of achieving perfection; Jesus is perfection, so He’s doing all the hard work to repair what is broken. We simply need to turn to Him and let Him do His job.

Free Yourself from Perfectionism

Forget about perfection. Don’t destroy yourself attempting to live up to human ideals. Don’t give up because you think you will never measure up. You are worthy. You are loved.

God uses broken people all the time. You never know how your story may be used to help other people. Or maybe, God is using you to help yourself. That’s a pretty cool story, too.