Music Monday - 20091005

Not too long ago i was rambling on about constantly striving and dealing with bad attitudes (my own) towards my own mistakes. The line between grace and striving perfection is pretty thin. I had heard my song for today before this, but in God's providential timing i heard it again later the same day as that previous post.

Free to be Me Francesca Battistelli Album: My Paper Heart At twenty years of age I'm still looking for a dream A war's already waged for my destiny But You've already won the battle And You've got great plans for me Though I can’t always see (Chorus) ‘Cause I got a couple dents in my fender Got a couple rips in my jeans Try to fit the pieces together But perfection is my enemy On my own I'm so clumsy But on Your shoulders I can see I'm free to be me When I was just a girl I thought I had it figured out My life would turn out right, and I'd make it here somehow But things don't always come that easy And sometimes I would doubt (Chorus) And you’re free to be you Sometimes I believe that I can do anything Yet other times I think I've got nothing good to bring But You look at my heart and You tell me That I've got all You seek And it’s easy to believe Even though (Chorus)

Perfectionism is a form of legalism. To make no allowances for grace. I struggled with using this song though. Not because of how great (IMO) it shows how grace is at work in our lives, but because i was worried about the reverse of legalism being seen as ok... license. Our walk with Christ is all about grace. Without God's grace we would be lost, and yet we cannot just lay back and say grace covers it. My mind is wandering (even after taking the Strattera this morning) and i am having a hard time focusing on exactly what i am trying to say. We no longer live under the law, and yet we are to strive/work. There is a difference between justification (that which grace has achieved) and our on-going sanctification (our on going working). But even in the sanctification process grace is at work. We can never achieve perfection because of sin in both ourselves and the world.

But [2] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:4-10, ESV)

We are indeed free to be ourselves, but we no longer live for ourselves but for Christ. I know that Francesca was not trying to say that it is ok for us to go on sinning, and i am not trying to convey that she was. Christ meets us exactly where we are. Not just when we were still in sin, but even after the Holy Spirit has come to dwell in a Christian's heart. Live free and enjoy the ride, but always ride towards the object of your affection. If it is not Christ... it is an idol.