Today’s topic something I’ve struggled with a lot growing up…perfectionism.
Let me paint the picture for you…
Ever since I can remember, I always felt like I had to be the best at everything I tried. If I didn’t think I was going be the best at it, or at least really great at it, I wouldn’t even try it.
Not only that, but I also struggled with some capacity of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). So not only did everything around me have to be perfect, but I had to be perfect at everything around me.
As I got older, it started to manifest in different ways.
I had to be the best academically. I had to be great at sports. I had to be on top of my game, ALL of the time and if I fell short, it made me want to run and hide.
The funny part about it was that to the world, I didn’t look any different than anyone else.
To the world, I was a super ambitious, high-achiever to the core. One of those girls who was just good at everything she tried. Someone other people would strive to be like.
But the problem with this mindset is that by the time I got married and started having kids, so much of my identity was wrapped up in being perfect, that when it didn’t look so perfect, I didn’t know how to handle it.
And with that loss of control, came a lot more anxiety and new fears. I was exhausted mentally, emotionally and physically.
I was still struggling with my desire to achieve and accomplish things while feeling overwhelmed by not being in control.
That’s when I learned to lean more on God.
I realized that I was still holding on to my own agenda and not giving God FULL control. So I started digging into God’s Word.
Let’s look at Adam. He was the first man and he had personal, face-to-face conversations with God on a DAILY basis! Can you even imagine how incredible that must’ve been?!
He had it all…until the fall.
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. GENESIS 3:6-7 NKJV
Before the fall, Adam and Eve were perfect humans. And as soon as they realized they had done wrong, they ran and hid from God. Adam, especially, tried to dodge the responsibility for his actions by blaming it on Eve, and even God, for giving her to him.
People today are exactly the same. We strive for perfection and when we don’t achieve it, we hide away or blame others for our mistakes. It’s really a pride issue, if you think about it.
Let’s look at another example…
Let’s look at King David. If you read through the Old Testament, he was by far, one of the greatest men to ever live. From killing Goliath as a small boy to becoming king and triumphing over countless other cities and people groups, David was successful because he followed God unlike any other person of his time.
He probably looked perfect to so many people back then because of all the good he did and all that he achieved.
But he still sinned, majorly, and tried to hide from his mistakes.
Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king's house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. II SAMUEL 11:2-4 NKJV
After David sent Bathsheba home, she found out she was pregnant from this encounter and told King David about it and he had her husband killed on the front lines of battle so he could marry her and cover up his mistake.
Even for all the good he did, he still messed up.
See, the point is that as humans, we are going to make mistakes.
Since that initial sin with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we are programmed to be a sinful race. It is our nature to mess up. We are physically incapable of being perfect.
Does that mean we don’t even try? Absolutely not! Just because we make mistakes, it doesn’t discount all the other good that we can do.
We can find peace in knowing that though we are not perfect, we serve a perfect God.
HE is PERFECT.
His WILL is PERFECT.
His PLAN for our lives is PERFECT.
God doesn’t need perfect robots, He needs people who are willing to make mistakes and try again. People who are willing to realize their sin, repent, and return to His work.
I think one of the most amazing parts of God’s plan is that He not only wants people who are not perfect, but He USES those who realize that they don’t have it all together to do His perfect will.
"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you." JOHN 15:16 NKJV
God chooses us to do His will and when we put aside our pride and selfish ambition and accept His perfect will for our lives, we can bear fruit and have the fulfilling life He’s promised us.
