Always do your best. Your best is going to change from moment to moment. It will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

Read: Colossians 3:17

This agreement is simple and straightforward. I love it. The truth is, I am not always able to work at something with the same level of energy, insight or desire. But if in everything, I simply do my best at that moment, I represent Jesus well. And that is enough for me.

As I thought on this, it came to me that there are some tasks that should be left for another day. In the past I have put so much pressure on myself to always operate at my optimum. And by that, I don’t mean just doing my best, but always being able to do my best in the same way. And that just isn’t true.

I am a sewer – you know somebody who sews…with sewing machines. (That is a funny English word. It could also be a sewer – like an underground conduit that carries away waste. And I am not a sewer!) Anyway, I find that some days sewing goes really well. Other days, I am ripping as much as sewing. On those days it is better to stop or take a break and come back refreshed rather than just push through. I bet you are that way in something as well.

But what about in relationships – what if one day our best is just not all that great. That’s okay. If we put all of the agreements into action, we will set healthy boundaries and we might reschedule the coffee date for a day when we can be at our best. Knowing when to postpone a conversation or interaction is loving not only to you, but to the other person as well. And it represents Jesus best when we love others by modifying interactions based on what we know about ourselves at that moment.

So, give yourself a great big gulp of self-love by remembering that your best won’t always look the same. Enjoy the freedom of knowing that whatever you do, it can be enough in that moment.