God Does Not Require Perfectionism

• Despite what you’ve been taught or told, nowhere in the Bible does God say that you need to be “perfect” or “good enough.” 

• In fact, the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation is the overarching story of God saving us through Jesus. (While also revealing His character.)

• Why? Because we’re not capable of making ourselves right with God.
   

• God is holy which means He’s 100% set apart from evil - which includes sin and wickedness. Meanwhile, since the Fall in the Garden, every man and woman is born sinful.
  
  
  

• No matter how “perfect” we strive to be, our own actions cannot rectify that issue. On our own, we are powerless to bridge the gap between God and ourselves.

• This is why, in His grace and mercy, God sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins - in our place. By accepting that Jesus died for our sins, and is our Lord and Savior, we are then seen as clean (aka sinless) by God through the blood of Jesus.

• And this is 100% a gift. 

• Again, despite what you may have been told, there are no prerequisites to accepting that gift - such as being “good enough.”
  
  
  

• God is not a cruel tyrant who created us for His own twisted pleasure. 

• We know this for numerous reasons, one being that God is love (1 John 4:16). He doesn’t just feel love; He actually is love.

• Also, God’s love is quite different from the type we may have experienced:

• 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NLT) says, “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” 

• If God’s plan did include us earning His love through works or perfectionism (which is unobtainable), then He would be acting out of cruelty instead of the love that He is. 

• 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.

• In Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG), Jesus says, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

• Note how the MSG version specifically calls out being “burned out on religion” and getting away with Jesus to have a healthy, full life? 

• In this instance, we’re talking about the biblical definition of religion.

• In other words, things that aren’t actually biblically aligned - like earning God’s love through perfectionism.
  
  

  
  
  

• The idea of perfectionism usually comes from man-made rules - not God-given instruction.

• Such rules come from things such as:

• An inaccurate understanding of the Bible

• Patriarchal views

• Because those who make the rules also use meeting them to be prideful and project themselves as better than others.

• Yes, God gave the law to His people in the Old Testament. But it was because He’s a good dad. 

• The Ten Commandments, for example, were important guard rails for a people that had just spent 430 years enslaved to the Egyptians. They needed time to know God more intimately, and to learn how to thrive instead of survive. 

• By the time Jesus was born into human history, things had gotten out of hand. 

• One of the reasons Jesus was upset with religious leaders of that time period was because they were adding man-made rules to God’s rules - therefore turning the law into something that oppressed the people instead of helping them to be safe, healthy, and close to God.

• In other words, it wasn’t about being “perfect” or “good enough” or earning God’s love, favor, or protection.

• They already had all of that. And as the Bible clearly shows, God’s people had that even when they went astray or turned their backs on God.

• At times, He had to use extreme measures to get His kids back to where they needed to be (i.e., in relationship with Him). 

• But even in those instances, God never required perfectionism. Only repentance (i.e., that they turn away from their sin and idolatry and back to the only living God who loved them dearly).