The Perfect Fruit

I have the privilege of living on a six-acre farm where we have fresh vegetables, blueberries, and figs every summer. Yesterday evening I was outside picking some juicy ripe figs, and decided later on to investigate via the internet the nutritional value of this ancient fruit. To my surprise, I learned that it has for centuries been considered the "perfect fruit" because of the variety of vitamins and minerals it contains. It can lower blood pressure, has more calcium than milk, and the list of its benefits goes on and on.

I wonder, is that why Adam and Eve, of all the trees of the garden, chose fig leaves to cover themselves? Were they looking for perfection, or better yet, attempting to cover themselves with "perfection" in order to be accepted by God?

Unfortunately, for me, (and I know for many others), perfectionism has been a driving force in my life, as if it could bring me God's divine approval, or the approval of the people I love.  We all, to some degree, seek and need affirmation, but those of us who have suffered any kind of abuse in childhood fall prone to this need in  unhealthy ways. Yet trying to be perfect cannot bring us any closer to God, nor achieve His acceptance, than would standing nude and covering ourselves with a bunch of fig leaves! The truth is that God loves us because He created us, not because of our performance. His grace is sufficient. We need to learn to walk in the freedom of this truth. Trying to be perfect actually just leads to repetitive failure, feelings of negative self worth, and actually drives us away from others and from understanding God's grace and love.

So the next time we are tempted to fall into the trap of thinking that "if my performance were just a little better I would be more loved," remember the figs. We did not create the "perfect fruit." God did.
The only perfection we have or need is in Him!