Are you a perfectionist? I used to be, but found as I strove for perfection I continually fell short of that goal. I misinterpreted the meaning of Matthew 5:48. “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” I actually thought that scripture meant perfection was attainable. However, humans are and will always be imperfect.
Those who struggle with perfection know too well the feeling of never really being good enough. We are like those children learning to write the alphabet for the first time, who tear their papers up the second they see they have malformed a letter. It makes no difference that they made it to the “R” without a problem. If the “S” looks sloppy then in the trash it goes.
Practically perfect people are hard on themselves.
In psychological terms perfectionism is the belief that perfection can and should be attained. When that belief transforms into thinking anything less than perfect is unacceptable, problems set it. Through a perfectionist’s eyes a person’s self-worth is determined by flawlessness. Of course ideas of perfection vary from person to person. Perfectionists set rigid standards of performance for themselves. They never feel they “measure up” and although they won’t readily admit it, they don’t think anyone else “measures up” either.
One of my favorite movie lines comes from Mary Poppins when she crisply says, “We practically perfect people never make mistakes.” And here is the problem in Christian thinking: many Christians link perfection to making mistakes. The word “perfect” in the above scripture is “telios” meaning finished, full grown, mature, lacking nothing, or brought to completeness. It has nothing to do with making mistakes or not being good enough.
Most people think perfection is all about physical characteristics such as being good, successful, sinless, or respected. When God speaks of perfection, he wants us to “be complete” by being spiritually one with his son Jesus Christ. This perfection is not designed to make us look good or perform flawlessly, but to let Christ’s life be manifested through us. Physical perfection is more concerned about actions we perform to a certain level, whereas spiritual perfection is more about becoming totally dependent on God, letting him work through us to perform his will – not ours. It’s not concerned about “self.”
The good news is that we are already perfect in God’s sight. We are reconciled through Jesus Christ and he lives in us. This comes not from our false concepts of trying to attain perfection or being good enough. It is a gift given freely to us. With Christ in us we are brought to completion and we lack nothing. Will we make mistakes? Sure. But remember – the perfection spoken of in this scripture is not about what we do; it’s about what Christ does. His life in us makes us perfect.
