Perfectionism

"...by a single offering [Jesus] has made perfect for all time those who are being made holy."  --Hebrews 10:14

I've been reading a book about the Perfectionist personality. A Perfectionist is someone who "refuses to except any standard short of perfection."  When I'm in an airplane I want the pilot to be a perfectionist.  If I need an operation, I want my doctor to be a perfectionist.  

Healthy Perfectionists are great in professions where making a mistake could be deadly.  You can depend on them to know and follow the rules of their trade so they can do the best job possible.  Unhealthy Perfectionists micromanage what they can or never delegate what they should.  I fall into the Average Perfectionist category.  It comes naturally to me to notice errors and imperfections.  I've learned not to point out these things to my friends......but family is not always safe from this personality trait because there is more at stake for me, and I let my emotions speak for me.  

Perfectionism, on the other hand, is the pursuit of perfection, something I eventually learned was unattainable in the flesh.  Being a perfectionist can be a good thing if you are the healthy kind.  In my 20s, when I was an Unhealthy Perfectionist, I remember thinking, "I don't expect anything of others that I don't also expect of myself" as a way to justify my expectations for others.  A Perfectionist is her own worst critic!  If you think living with a perfectionist would be difficult, try being one.  😅

So, the other morning when I listened to Andrew Farley's sermon on The Power of Oneness about how we are made perfect in Christ I realized I've been striving to be something I already am:  Perfect!  

As I searched my earlier blog posts using the scriptures Dr. Farley preached from I found these four that I wanted to share with you.  Reading them again was a good reminder to me that trying to be perfect was not what God desires of me.  Instead He wants me to depend on Him, to trust in His love, to pour my heart out to Him, and to know He lives in me.  There is no need to strive to be perfect because I already am because of Jesus' payment for all my sins!

Click on the title to be taken to the post:

Gratitude

Gravitational Pull

Prayer

The Resurrection Life

Father, even though I am perfect in your eyes I know You want me to renew my mind so that the flesh has no pull on me.  It's so easy to allow old habits, rooted in my mind, to direct me, rather than listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit in me.  May I quit trying to be perfect and instead rest in Your Love.

Link to scripture:  Proverbs 3:5

Take Action:  What it means to have Christ living in you....