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TechnoratiDo you have a tendency toward being a perfectionist? If you do, you know that life can be a rough ride. We live in an imperfect world and imperfect people surround us every day. So if your goal every day is perfection, you are bound to struggle with disappointment. In fact, oftentimes the person you are most disappointed in is yourself. Perfectionists demand perfection from themselves first and foremost.
It can be very difficult to live with or be in a relationship with a perfectionist because no matter what you do, it’s never enough. You can work hard, do and say the right things, but no matter how hard you may try, you’ll find it impossible to please a perfectionist.
If you are a perfectionist, chances are you are hurting the people in your life you care most about. But you can never use your obsession to be perfect as an excuse for hurting others. My whole life, I’ve had a very strong personality. In the past it was easy for me to just take over a situation or a group of people. When my personality would hurt others, I would excuse it by saying, “That’s just the way I am.”
But you can’t expect people to understand and not be hurt just because “that’s the way you are.” God wants to set you free from having to be perfect—and demanding perfection from those around you—all the time. We all have strengths and weaknesses, and we have to let God work through us to improve those areas where we are weak.
In Psalm 18:30-32, The Amplified Bible says, As for God, His way is perfect! The word of the Lord is tested and tried; He is a shield to all those who take refuge and put their trust in Him. For who is God except the Lord? Or who is the Rock save our God, the God who girds me with strength and makes my way perfect?
God’s way is perfect, and when we are in Christ, we are perfect too. When we put our trust in Him—when we make Him our shield and take our refuge in Him—we are perfect. But there is a difference between who I am in my performance and who I am in Christ. In my performance, I will never be able to do everything perfectly. But in Christ, I am perfect. And the same is true for you.
What if you had a friend who saw you as right no matter what you did wrong? What if you made mistake after mistake and failed your friend time and time again but they never saw the wrong? They always saw you as being right. What a great friend that would be!
In 2 Corinthians 5:21, we’re told that this is exactly the type of relationship God has with us. For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].
God sees you as “approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him” because of what Jesus has done for you at Calvary. God forgives you and doesn’t acknowledge you as being in the wrong. He sees you as being in Christ if you have accepted His saving grace for your life.
You no longer have to live under the heavy burden of being right all the time. Perfection is a heavy yoke that no one can bear. He wants you to live your life fully in Him and be free from the curse of perfection!
Author/teacher Joyce Meyer has been helping people overcome life’s problems through biblical keys to practical Christian living since 1976. Her radio and television programs are broadcast throughout the United States and much of the world. For additional information, you may contact Joyce Meyer Ministries at P.O. Box 655, Fenton, Missouri 63026 or visit www.joycemeyer.org.
© 2007 Printed with permission of Joyce Meyer Ministries
1-800-727-9673
www.joycemeyer.org
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