One of the greatest weaknesses I’ve had to work on is one that can be easily mistaken at times as strength. It is the trait of being a perfectionist. It is definitely a good quality to pursue excellence. But there is a fine line between excellence and perfection. The former is done through a spirit of honor and the latter a spirit of criticalness.
As a person who grew up with perfectionistic inclinations, I had the tendency to be hard on others and myself when things didn’t go just right. This mentality is never satisfied until the person of emphasis successfully fulfills the nitpicking expectations blemish-free.
That may explain the broken game controllers I used to have when I kept failing in Super Mario Brothers. It also explains why I have quit so many endeavors before I ever reached the point of breakthrough that could have developed some new skills.
It seems a lot of my Christian life has also been eaten up with discontentment as I waited for life dreams to land in my lap. Until that would happen, I felt I didn’t have much to show for myself.
Something I have learned over the years in my walk with Christ that surprised me is that He is not a perfectionist! He does love perfection. But thankfully, instead of demanding it out of us, He works it into us through grafting our nature together into His perfect nature.
I have discovered that God is not nearly as concerned about the end product as He is about the process. He sees the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10) and already sees the finished product of perfection in those who walk with Him (Hebrews 10:14).
If He wanted to, He could zap us into a state of completion right now. But that would take away from the glory of the journey He loves to walk us through.
Philippians 1:6 says, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus,” (NASB). The timeframe between the good work God began in us and the day of Christ Jesus is called “process;” and that is where our perfecting happens.
God accepts you as you are today! He isn’t hung up on who you haven’t become yet. He is patient and in no hurry.
Since God is not judging our today by our future’s potential, we should learn to take a deep breath and relax. He isn’t a perfectionist, and neither should we be. Resting in where we are at in the present is a key to our success.
This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep moving forward; it just means we should do it with joy and peace, knowing that we are successful throughout the entire journey. True success is from the inside, and promotion is simply a reward for our success.
We need to always remember that each phase of progress we make in the direction we are going is true success. We don’t have to wait until we have reached our final destination before we rejoice and be glad. We are successful every time we do well with what is given us, and we are successful every step forward we are able to make.
Let us all take a look at the distance we have personally made on the journey of life and get happy that we have made progress. Every time we move one inch forward toward the place God is taking us, let us triumph in our victory!
God is not a perfectionist waiting for our full arrival before He celebrates us. He rewards us all along the way, if we just stop long enough to receive it. He is praising you for your pursuit for Him and your advancement into maturity. He absolutely loves the process of perfecting us.
Don’t wait to celebrate success until you’ve reached your final goal. That is perfectionism. Rather, as my mentor, Steve Backlund, says, learn to celebrate incremental successes all along the way!
I challenge you to take some time to meditate on where you have come from and how far you have come in whatever part of life God has you. Don’t wait another moment to celebrate with God your progress. It may be long overdue!
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