Do you believe that your relationship with God hinges on how many good things you do…or maybe even more importantly, how many times you mess up? I suspect that many of us do in fact believe that, even if we don’t realize it. “I know God loves me no matter what,” we say with such confidence it would make our 5th grade Sunday School teachers proud.
But inwardly, it’s often a different story. We feel the constant pressure to do better, be better. Somewhere deep inside, we carry the uncomfortable—if not outright terrifying—knowledge that we try and try but it will never be good enough. And that knowledge 
makes us feel guilty, scared, overwhelmed, and lots of other negative emotions that eat at us. Because sure, God loves us…but didn’t Jesus also command us to be perfect like him (Matthew 5:48)? Isn’t the Bible full of commandments about how we’re supposed to live holy, righteous, blameless lives?
Yes. All of those things are true. But so is God’s grace. It’s why Jesus came. He came to fill in the gap between our shortcomings—our inevitable failing and flailing—and God’s perfect standard. And because of that bridge, we can just rest in God’s love for us. We are called to run the race and to run it with perseverance all the way to the end, but crossing the finish line still counts even if you didn’t run a “perfect” race. You stumble, you fall down, but you get back and keep going. Sometimes walking. Sometimes limping. Heck, at times, I’m pretty sure I’ve wandered off the track entirely…but I kept going and found it again (mostly because God in his goodness kindly guided me back!).
The lie is that we have to measure up to “the” standard (be it God’s, our own, or someone else’s). The truth is that it’s not even about us or what we do or don’t do—it’s about what He already did for us. Kinda sad to think that we’ve been given such an amazing gift and instead of trusting it, enjoying it, and being grateful for it, we doubt it and live as though we don’t even have it.
It's a Wonderful (Imperfect) Life 