Perfection Is Impossible

By: Erlinda Mejia-Olson

MATTHEW 6:33 ~ "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

I read a story of a man who is never married.  One day his friend asked him how it is that he never married.  The man replied:  "I guess I just never met the right woman.  I have been looking for the perfect girl."   "Well, that sounds  really  absurd!", said the friend.  "I'm sure you have met at least one girl that you wanted to marry."   "Yes, there was one girl, once", the man confessed.  "I guess she was the one perfect girl ... the only perfect girl I really ever met.  "She was just right for everything ... I really mean that she was the perfect girl for me."  "Well then, why didn't you marry her", asked the friend.  With a sad look on his face, the man replied:  "She was looking for a perfect man."

Are you spending a lot of time looking for perfection?

The moral lesson of the story: "Nobody is perfect.  No, not one."   Yet, I have seen people keep falling into temptations and snare of wanting to be perfect.  Searching for the one perfect man or a woman to marry,  friends, things, etc.  Increasing their momentun each day to gain perfection.  Hoping, to find acceptance in this perverse generation.

The thing is, you don't have to be perfect to be wonderful.  The difference between perfectionism and realistic expectations is the difference between life of frustration and a life of contentment.  Only one earthly being ever lived life to perfection, and He was the Son of God.  The rest of us have fallen short of God's standard (Romans 3:23) and need to be accepting of our own limitations as well as the limitations of others.

If you find yourself frustrated by the unrealistic demands of others (or by unrealistic pressures of the self-imposed variety) then, it is time to ask yourself who you are trying to impress, and why.  Your first responsibility is to the Heavenly Father who created you (body and soul) and to His Son, Jesus Christ who saved you.  When you realize that, then you bear a powerful responsibility to be true to yourself, including your sphere of influence (family, home church, friends, community, work place).  But, when it comes to unrealistic expectations, toss it out!  Those expectations are vain and unrealistic, and they are detrimental to your life.

So, if you are a man or a woman who have  become discouraged with your inability to be perfect for others applause, remember that when you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior,  God accepts you for all eternity. 

Now, it is your turn to accept yourself.  When you do, you will feel a tremendous weight being lifted from your shoulders.  After all, pleasing God is simply a matter of obeying His commandments and accepting His Son.  But as for pleasing everyone else?  That's impossible ... so why even try it?  

The only one perfection that truly matters is in the LORD Jesus Christ.

"And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor 12:9-10)

Song:

I'd Rather Have Jesus