You are sanctified...
—1 Corinthians 5:11

Oftentimes, we attempt to function at too high a level, trying to gain the approval of others and of God. Or we under-perform, and are plagued by guilt that sticks to all our thinking and gums up our drive to change.  We work hard to achieve perfection or we feel shame for not only not achieving it but giving up in fear of failure.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said that holiness does not belong to a few, it belongs to us all. The truth is that we are sanctified by God, not by our own efforts. It would be like an infusion of oxygen into our souls if we simply believed this and acted as if it were true. We might not be so hard on ourselves when we fail to be all that we can be. 

Or, we might live more fully into what we know we can become. We might be more willing to take creative risk or do what we have not done before. Or, we might trust that being held in the great embrace of God makes even our smallest acts of love worthy of the greatest blessing.

It doesn't do our soul any good to think that perfection is what
sanctifies us. What is good for our soul is to live the sanctified life
that comes to us from God.

Gracious God, when I am tempted to claim perfection for myself as a way of being worthy, let me claim instead the holiness that is yours alone.