ManageYourEmotionsBook8.5x5.5_RevJULY.indd

the process.As pastor, I’ve sat anxiously through many services, experiencing very little worship, because my greatest concern is that everything go just right. Learn to celebrate frequent victories along the way, no matter how small they may seem, rather than expecting something big at the end of the rainbow. Entering the sunset years of my ministry, my goal is to enjoy the experience versus making an evaluation, with progress and perseverance taking precedence over performance and perfection – more jubilation and less analysis. Learn to prioritize and discriminate. When in college, I was obsessed with making an A in every class. It took the seminary experience to teach me that lower grades were just fine, especially if it meant enjoying more time with my new wife, getting needed exercise, and actually living out what I was learning. Paul writes, “I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and discernment” (Philippians 1:9). Choose your performance battles carefully. Live with average when you can. Learn to delegate, even if someone isn’t as good as you.You’ll proba- bly find they’re better, to which you should say, “Praise the Lord!” Embrace Christ’s perfection. As Jesus said, “You are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Of course we can never be perfect based upon our performance, but rather on the sacrifice He made and the price He paid for our salva- tion. You may have never heard it put this way, yet it’s true: Jesus purchased our perfection on the cross.As Scripture says, “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14, emphasis added). On that glorious day on Mount Calvary over 2,000 years ago, Jesus did something so we could be something – forgiven, perfect children of God. If saved, with our name recorded in the Lamb’s book of life, God sees us totally different than we see ourselves.We look in the mirror and see a struggling soul, covered up with imperfections

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