Done is Better Than Perfect

“I have come to realize that it is hard to be the hands of the Savior and to try to listen and follow those promptings you may get from the Spirit if you constantly live in fear of not saying or doing everything exactly right. Serving in Christlike love is vulnerable. It not only takes a ‘broken heart and a contrite spirit’, but many times a courageous one as well. We must take our thoughts off ourselves and put away our fears and simply go out and DO.”       

--Melissa Draper

This quote was from a talk I gave a while ago, but it has been on my mind lately. I think with some of the things going on in our world especially. I honestly think fear of offending or doing or saying something wrong can sometimes be a tool Satan uses to keep us from helping and reaching out to those around us. I used to live with that fear a lot, it was a very real thing for me. But I also have always had a real desire to reach out and to do good. And I realized that in order to do good and be the hands of the Savior, I would have to be willing to not do it perfectly. To make mistakes or sometimes even be a little messy. It is all part of learning and growing and becoming like our Savior, even in our serving and ministering efforts.

 I finally decided one day that I would rather risk the chance of saying something wrong and need to apologize for it, then miss a time when something needed to be said and not say anything at all. I decided I would rather have a stranger wonder why that weird lady asked if they needed help, than not do anything at all when help was really needed. I decided I would rather have a neighbor feel a little annoyed and wonder why Melissa is knocking at their door, then not knock when they really needed a friend or a listening ear. Even with the Holy Ghost as our guide and giving us promptings, it still takes skills and a lot of effort to be able to do those things and do them well. And as a pianist I have certainly learned that the only way to get better at something is to keep practicing it. 

So, I’m going to keep practicing and keep trying and not let fear get in the way of serving and helping and doing my part. Because ‘I’m TRYING to be like Jesus’ and ‘I’m TRYING to love my neighbors’ and ‘I’m LEARNING to serve my friends’ and it’s not always going to be done perfectly and that’s OK. God makes up the difference when we fall short. He lets us know the ways we can improve. And He lets us know when He is pleased with our efforts. But most of all He wants us, each one of us, to help in the ‘never-ending task of lifting the load from those who are burdened and relieving the pain of those who are distraught’ and experience the true JOY that can be found in helping and lifting and serving each other. I have been able to experience so much more of that joy when I put my fears aside. Because it’s not in the thinking or talking about something, but in the actual DOING where we really learn how to love and serve as our Savior did. It’s in the DOING where we often feel His love for us. We don’t need to do it perfectly to get it done, God can use us just as we are and magnify our efforts for His purposes.

-quotes from ‘I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus’ by Janice Kappy Perry and ‘Behold the Lamb of God’ by Jeffrey R. Holland