What is good?

I been thinking a lot lately about how to minister to those who think that we get to heaven by being good people. I just thank God that that's not how. "Good", to the world, is quite different than "good" is to God. God is the very definition of good. So unless you are God, you are not good.
I understand what people are saying when they say you go to Heaven if you are good. They think that having a good heart and being willing to help people in need is good. Who wouldn't. But honestly, no one has a good heart 24/7, and no one is always willing to help people out. Everyone has bad thoughts every day. Even Mother Theresa herself. No one is perfect. Some might argue that God doesn't expect us to be perfect. He just wants us to try. What a life that must be......to try hard, every day, to be like God. Every day, feeling like a failure. I thank God for the gift of his son. He doesn't want us to try. He wants us to admit that we can't, without Him. When that happens He fills in the gaps. He carries us. He fills our heart with a Love that can only come from Him. When we stop trying, and start leaning on Him, we become more effective. He begins to use us more. And not in the ways that we might expect. What's important to us is not what is important to Him. Perfect for a woman in the world is having a beautifully decorated home and beautifully dressed children. Everything clean and organized and a perfect body, hairstyle, and make-up to boot. This isn't what God will do if we lean on Him, and so when we realize we're losing control, we stop leaning, and start standing on our own two feet again. What would happen, if we kept leaning?
Well, look at some of the most effective people in our church; the ones who are really serving God with all their hearts. There homes are humble, nothing spectacular, but they make you feel welcome and comfortable. Their family knows that they are loved but God is number one, and they are ok with not being center of attention. Their appearance is clean. Their clothes appropriate for the task at hand. Their hands are callused from serving God. They appear plain and simple to world. But to God, they are most beautiful.
I have been struggling so hard lately, because I feel like a failure. I now realize that I am a failure but not in what I was thinking. I am a failure because I have been trying so hard, by myself, to do what I think is important and failing miserably, when what I should have been doing is leaning on God. Trusting Him. Serving Him. I need to stop worrying about my home and how it doesn't compare to all the other homes because I am not good at decorating. I need to stop worrying about how I don't fit in because other women are so much better looking than me. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Do I want be beautiful to the world, or God? The answer to that should be obvious, but yet, I often find myself trying to please the world.
How free would I be, if I just leaned on Him? How much better would the lives around me be if I stopped trying to make myself look good, and started serving those around me? How many people might feel more loved and comfortable around me if I were real? If I let down my guard? If I stopped trying to be better and started admitting that I am not? How much better would the world be if we all did that? How many more people would come to God if we all did that? If we all just let God drive, and stopped trying to take the wheel when we thought He was going the wrong way and just had a little faith......oh the places we'd go!
Lord, I pray that you would just allow me to learn to lean on you. Lord, I pray that when I feel scared that You're taking me the wrong way, that I would be quickly reminded that You know exactly what You are doing. You are Lord, Creator of all, and most beautiful indeed. If anyone knows anything about beauty, and perfection, and what is worthy of good report, it is You. You alone are all these things and more. Lord help me to rest in Your grace. Help me to become a mighty servant for You. I know that I cannot be effective without You. I want to be your hands and feet. Please use me. You are Good.
In Jesus name I pray,
Amen