IT'S PERFECT

There are three P's that keep coming up these days: Performance, People-pleasing and Perfectionism. All three are man's standards and not God's. They prevent people from living in the fullness of the freedom offered by the Gospel of grace. The thought has crossed my mind to do a series of posts on these three P's. But today, I will only write about one: Perfectionism.

My roommate here has a habit of looking at the things I do and exclaiming, "It's perfect!" Whether it be walnuts I've chopped for her banana bread, some dish I experimentally served for dinner or a picture I helped her hang on the wall, her most frequent response is that it's perfect. Every time she says that, I silently feel my insides cringe. My mind rattles off an itemized list for why the object at hand is not perfect. I simply struggle to accept that something not up to my unrealistic standards can still be considered perfect.

Reading what God has to say about me, I realize that this applies in a broader sense to how I see myself. I can list a jillion reasons why I am not perfect, but amazingly, the Bible tells me that because of Christ, I am perfect. Hebrews 10:14 says, "because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy." Wow. Not only am I counted as perfect. I'm counted perfect forever. I don't get this grace.