1. Pursuing Perfection Leads to Despair. God is About Hope.
Being perfect is simply not possible. We’re all imperfect, broken, and sinful people.
Romans 3:23 (NLT) says, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard..”
1 John 1:8 (NLT) says, “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.”
Even if you’re Type A and the most organized, on-top of things type of person, you’re still a sinner. You’re also living in a fallen, broken world full of other sinners.
This makes perfection impossible. And impossible tasks can only make us feel heavy, unworthy, and not “good enough.” Why? Because we’re striving for something that has a massive price yet isn’t obtainable.
It’s like someone who’s earning minimum wage striving to save enough to buy a million dollar home. It’s an impossible task.
We can work so diligently, putting everything we have into striving to be perfect - our time, energy, talents, and hearts. Yet, because we’re sinful and imperfect, the outcome will always be the same: despair.
Just like a minimum wage earner working all the extra shifts she can, pouring out her time and energy, only to never grow closer to the goal of a million dollar home. The outcome is the same: despair.
The dictionary defines despair as a “complete loss or absence of hope.”
It defines hope as “a feeling of trust” and a “feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.”
In this case, you’ve likely been chasing perfectionism with hope because you believe (or have been taught) that God requires perfection in order for you to be acceptable to Him and loved by Him.
And then, as you continually come face-to-face with your imperfect self, you go from hope to despair.
In the bible, despair is defined as a state of hopelessness that results from turning away from God (who is a God of hope) and His promises.
Because here’s the truth, friend: God is a God of hope - not despair or hopelessness.
Romans 15:13 (NLT) says, “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Psalm 62:5-6 (NLT) says, “Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.”
God is our source of hope. Within this, He does not ask us to strive for the impossible.
Nowhere in the bible does God say that He requires us to be perfect. That would be cruel seeing as how He knows it isn’t possible.
Instead, He meets us where we are. For example, He sent Jesus to die on the cross, for our sins, so that we could be seen as righteous by God.
We (meaning humans) weren’t capable of fixing the rift we had caused back in the Garden of Eden when we chose to let sin into the world. So God sent Jesus.
But if you’re striving for perfectionism, believing that God won’t accept, bless, or love you (at least not fully) otherwise, then you’re misunderstanding God’s character - and thus His promises and true desires for you.
2. Pursuing Perfection Leads to Captivity. God is About Freedom.
When we strive towards a truly impossible task such as perfectionism, it can easily consume us.
It becomes this thing that we’re always thinking about and putting our energy towards. It also takes a high emotional toll.
We think we’re doing well, but then we falter. We think God is seeing us in a positive light, but then He must be disappointed when we sin or make a mistake.
Our emotions are on this non-stop rollercoaster where we’re constantly feeling intently about ourselves - and God.
In addition to despair, we can start to feel things such as anger and resentment towards God for creating this cruel requirement in the first place.
Yet, we still strive to be perfect. We keep giving this idea a huge, primary focus in our life. To the point where it becomes an idol that we become captive to.
The biblical definition of an idol is something that takes the place of God as the most important priority or focus in our lives.
In the bible, we see examples of idols in the sense of people worshipping other gods than the Creator God. But idols can be anything - ideas, people, etc. Literally anything that one places higher than God.
Now, at first glance, you might wonder how striving to please God can be considered idolatry? Or something that can hold you captive? After all, you’re placing Him first, right?
However, consider these facts:
One, as we just talked about, God does not require you to be perfect.
Two, being perfect is an unobtainable goal with an extremely high cost.
Three, in pursuing perfectionism, you’re giving it a higher priority and focus in your life than God and His truth. You’re treating God, and your relationship with Him, as a byproduct of perfection. Most of your time, energy, talents, and emotions are going into pursuing perfectionism versus pursuing your relationship with God. (Which God offers freely.)
The longer you strive to be perfect in order to earn God’s acceptance, love, and favor, the more you remain captive to that lie. It’s going to take everything that you’re willing to give it, but give you nothing but despair and captivity in return.
That’s not what God wants. God is about freedom.
2 Corinthians 3:17 (NLT) says, “For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
Jonah 2:8 (NIV) says, “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them.”
1 Corinthians 10:15 (NLT) says, “So, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols.”
1 John 5:21 (NLT) says, “Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.”
God wants you to be free from idols. One, because He knows the negative toll they have on you - and where they take you, such as to despair and hopelessness.
And two, because He wants your heart to be freed up for His perfect, tender, and gentle love. The love that casts out all fear as 1 John 4:18 says.
And the love that is already readily available to you - just the way that you are!
Romans 5:8 (NLT) says, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”
You were a sinner (and imperfect) when God sent Jesus to die for you on the cross, making it possible for you to have a full relationship with God by accepting what Jesus did for you.
In other words, He offered His love and freedom from sin to you without you first being perfect.
That is a God who loves you just the way you are!
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