When a
perfectionist realizes that Satan duped him/her all of these years, they feel
like a silly fool. They vow to give up the devil's hold on their life and to
walk in the freedom of Christ who lives in them.
The first
day is the hardest. When the silverware in the drawer gets out of line, when
the towels are not folded the same way on the shelf, when the clothes in the
closet are not sorted according to style or functionality, when there is dust on our car, if our tools get out of order in the garage, etc. then our insides get
jittery and we feel compelled to restore order.
Then we
realize that nothing is really out of place, there is no mess to clean up,
nothing is lost except the demonic drive of perfectionism. This is a
milestone day and we breathe easier and smile much more.
Our
vulnerability intimidates us at first. We can no longer hide behind the
subterfuge of perfectionism. We feel that life is out of control, and there is
nothing we can do about it.
We forget to
record events in our calendar, we make more mistakes than ever before; and yet,
we learn from our mistakes and apologize for our lapses.
We feel our
self getting freed from the damage that perfectionism sows into our life. We
have more time to spend with our children, to sit outside in the sun, and to
dedicate to our ministry, interests and hobbies.
We drop the
pretense in our life, admit our need for help, and humbly accept our humanity.
We are easier to live with, we feel better about our self, and we get along
with the rest of the imperfect world. It actually feels good to admit that we
are only human after all.
Prayer:
Father God,
thank You for our imperfections. They remind us of our need for You in our
life. We repent of our sins and depend on You to help us to reach the
perfection that You exemplify for us (Matthew 5:48). We accept our flaws because
they are Your sign of ownership of us; they let us know that we are still the
apple of Your eye (Zachariah 2:8; Deuteronomy 32:10).
Help us to
get used to the fact that imperfection is a way of life in this sin-cursed
world, and to stop allowing the demon of perfectionism to drive us to
distraction. We want to serve You with our life, doing our best, but not
expecting more from our self than You expect from us. We praise You because we
are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).
Thought for
the Day:
Our culture
gives us the illusion that perfection is possible; we buy into this satanic lie
and believe that we are not "good enough" when we fail to succeed;
however, in Christ, we access His power which is made perfect in our weakness.
- 2 Corinthians 12:9
