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Hey, Forever GodGirl, I'm your host, Iz, and

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welcome or welcome back to the Forever GodGirl

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podcast. In today's episode, we are going to

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be talking all about perfectionism and legalism.

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So let me give you the definition for both perfectionism

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and legalism. Perfectionism is the refusal to

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accept any standard short of perfection. And

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legalism is a man -made standard of perfection

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that leads us into thinking our salvation can

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be earned. And the Bible contradicts the very

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idea of legalism and perfectionism many times.

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In fact, in Galatians 2 verse 16 it says, Yet

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we know that a person is made right with God

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by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the

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law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus so

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that we might be made right with God because

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of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed

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the law. For no one will ever be made right with

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God by obeying the law. So this scripture is

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telling us that there can be people who believe

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in Jesus, accept him and follow him. but are

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still under the impression and oppression that

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they gain and earn their salvation by what they

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do. And this is, again, legalism giving us the

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man -made standard of perfection. Which, two

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things. One, you can't earn your salvation because

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it is a gift to be received, not a prize to be

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won. And scripture backs that up in Ephesians

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2, verse 8, which says, For grace you have been

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saved through faith, and this is not your own

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doing. It is a gift of God. And this scripture

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also tells us that no matter how perfect we try

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to be, we could never earn our salvation because

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salvation comes from Jesus Christ alone. And

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two, you can't lose your salvation. Once saved,

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always saved. The Bible literally says in Ephesians

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chapter 4 verse 30 that we are sealed for the

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day of redemption. And scripture backs that up

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again in Romans chapter 11 verse 29. And it says,

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and the calling of God are irrevocable. And the

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word irrevocable means it can't be voided or

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turned back. God won't just up and change his

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mind. For example, in John 10, verses 28 through

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29. jesus says i give them eternal life and they

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shall never perish neither shall anyone snatch

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them out of my hand my father who has given them

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to me is greater than all and no one is able

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to snatch them out of my father's hand once we're

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saved we can't lose our salvation because our

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names are written in the book of life with permanent

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ink so now that we've talked about legalism i

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want to talk about perfectionism because it's

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part of today's topic and i want to show you

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how legalism and perfectionism are intertwined.

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And to start off, I want to read 2 Timothy 2,

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verse 15, which says, Study and do your best

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to present yourself to God approved, a workman

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tested by trial, who has no reason to be ashamed,

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accurately handling and skillfully teaching the

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word of truth. Now, I have struggled with perfectionism

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for a really long time, and whether I understood

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it or not, I actually created a legalistic standard

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of perfectionism over myself. And when I've let

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it take control of me, it can become really,

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really crippling. And when it's crippling, I

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start procrastinating, which is also really bad,

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but it's a fruit of perfectionism and legalism.

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So I'm going to do a little story time real quickly

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to tell you the origin of how I even found 2

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Timothy chapter 2 verse 15 and how it relates

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to perfectionism in my life. Around two years

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ago, I had a really big exam in school for math.

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I think it was a midterm and a midterm basically

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determines 50 % of your grade. So I was nervous,

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especially because I felt like I hadn't really

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grasped all the things I was supposed to have

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learned. But even after I had vigorously studied,

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I couldn't shake the feeling of fear, fear of

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failure. All I wanted to do was procrastinate,

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sit, watch some TV shows, and eat some chips.

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And my mom brought 2 Timothy 2 .15 to my attention,

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and this scripture spoke to me. It made me realize

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that as long as I know I've studied, been diligent

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with my time, and presented it before God and

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asked for His help, i have nothing to fear no

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i don't need to be perfect and no i don't need

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to fear that i'm gonna fail because jesus is

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with me and the simple truth is that we are not

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gonna be perfect at everything so even on that

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exam No, I did not get a perfect 100%, but the

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Lord did help me to get a good score. And that

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was because I wasn't trying to take everything

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in my own hands and make it perfect by my own

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will or by my own legalistic standards. I put

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it in Jesus' hands because Jesus is the one who's

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perfect. Jesus knows that we aren't perfect.

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He wants to perfect our faith. So no, we don't

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have to act like we're perfect in our walk with

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Jesus, nor do we have to follow a specific set

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of man -made rules. And we don't have to worry

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about making ourselves look perfect or making

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our situations perfect. Because when we perfect

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everything else on the outside, but neglect the

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inside, our hearts will be far from him. That's

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what we don't want. So next time you're tempted

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to walk in legalism and to act in perfectionism,

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remember Romans chapter 3 verse 27. And it's...

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says by what kind of law by the law of works

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no but by the law of faith now it's time for

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our special segment And in today's special segment,

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you guessed it, movies and TV shows, I'm going

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to share with you another one of my favorite

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Christian TV shows. Now, last time I chose The

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Chosen, no pun intended. But this time I'm going

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to put you on to one of my favorite Christian

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movies, The Forge. And it's all about this young

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guy who doesn't know the value of his faith.

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prayer, and work. It is a phenomenal movie. Go

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watch it. That's all I gotta say. That was such

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a great special segment, but now it's time to

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talk about something more exciting and more important,

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salvation. Here's a word from Zai. So, if you

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have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ,

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then this message will help you. But, if you

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don't have a personal relationship with Jesus

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Christ, I invite you to give your heart to the

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Lord today. to receive him into your heart. Go

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to Romans 10, 9 -10. It says, If you said this

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prayer with sincerity, you are saved and now

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have eternal life with Jesus. You are saved from

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all your sins, past, present, and future sins

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you may commit. This truth is not a free pass

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to sin anytime. Instead, Jesus gives you power

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over all wrong choices and empowers you to spread

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the gospel to others. You are saved forever.

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And your name is written in the book of life.

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Did you just give your life to Jesus? Because

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if you did, give yourself a pat on the back.

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I am so godly proud of you. Thank you so much

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for listening to this podcast episode. I trust

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that it helped you and that you learned something.

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And remember, Jesus doesn't need us to be perfect

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people. He simply wants us to trust his perfect

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plan. Hey, Forever God Girl, did you like this

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episode? If so, please follow us, rate us five

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stars on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and anywhere

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you listen to podcasts. And visit us on our website

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at forevergodgirl .com. That's how you help us

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spread the good news. See you next time. Bye.