17 Days to Christmas, Monday, Dec 8, 2025

“It Won’t Be Perfect”

“It won’t be perfect” is one of the things I must remind myself as I prepare for Advent.  These four Sundays, plus Christmas Eve, represent some of the biggest days of the year in nearly every local church. Churches will experience more attendance during this month than any other month (by far), though Easter Day usually boasts the largest single attendance of any one day. I will try my very best this time of year because I want it to be perfect—even though I know it won’t be.

My “perfect,” however, is not what’s important. It’s God’s perfect that I should be striving toward. This isn’t about pressure; it’s encouragement to try my best, recognizing that God simply asks me to try my best. God doesn’t expect me to be perfect. God wants me to be faithful.

Where I stumble this time of year is the details. Sometimes I become so focused on the details that I miss the experience entirely. That’s the danger for folks like me—we can push it too far, especially during Christmas. But it’s not just Christmas.

Weddings are a great example. The bride and groom want their day to be perfect, and in the planning (and in trying to make everyone happy), they can easily become overwhelmed. So in my first meeting with a couple, I break the egg by telling them that the day won’t be perfect. Oh, don’t worry—I’m not raining on their parade. Instead, I’m encouraging them not to let the details carry them into bad or unhealthy places. The most important thing is that they enjoy the experience together. But that’s difficult if someone forgot to pick up the cake, the florist got the colors wrong, or an attendant left the rings in their other set of pants. All the planning in the world won’t fix those game-time mistakes. So enjoy the actual experience that God has created for you!

As we begin the second week of December, it’s unlikely that we’ve become bogged down in the details…yet. So this is the perfect time to be aware of the things that are outside our control. We should do our best. We should always give our best effort at everything we do. But if something goes awry, don’t let it steal the Christmas experience. God is pleased with us, and the very reason we have Christmas is because God knew we needed help—lots of it!

Enjoy the holidays. Plan as best you can; carry out those plans even better. But don’t fret too much, because it won’t be perfect. It’ll be enough, though… because God knows your heart and will bring you the peace that only Christmas can bring.

“Make an effort to present yourself to God as a tried-and-true worker, who doesn’t need to be ashamed but is one who interprets the message of truth correctly.”  (2 Timothy 2:15, CEB)