Christian Living
Perfection is, broadly, a state of completeness and flawlessness.
This definition comes from Wikipedia...copied and pasted.
I struggle with this term. I have to admit. My feelings are split. On one hand I despise it. I have frizzy hair, a cluttered home, weight to lose, un-ironed clothing, dust on my shelves, struggles with sin and a prayer life that needs work. I have little structure in my day and I cannot for the life of me potty train my 3 year old daughter who still uses a binky. I keep getting sweet advice on how to break her of this habit, but honestly...it is not one of my bigger obstacles at the moment. I have debt to pay off and many times, I have an attitude that needs adjusting. I am so far from the vision of perfection that I don't even care to take a glance that way because the task seems too large.
The other side of this is my desire to grow Christ-like. If I am truly taking to heart the task assigned to me the day I accepted Jesus at the age of 8, then perfection is certainly something I should seek. Granted, I will never reach this goal. Still, it should be sought.
This is where I realized my true struggle. I have a problem with the worldly view of perfection. Nearly everything about this word has to do with the way one looks, the way their home looks, the way their children look and act, etc. For the most part a worldly definition of perfectionism is that they fit into some idea of how things "should" be.
We don't have to guess about perfect, though. It was written for us years ago in the Holy Bible. Most of what we learn of Jesus does not mention His clothing, clean closets, dusted shelves, or well-groomed hair. Now, don't get me wrong. This is not a call for clutter or a case against schedules. I know that God wants us to take care of ourselves, our finances, our blessings (homes, cars, etc..). I also believe that too much value can be put on these things. There are people like me who open the door just a crack to see if someone who has already been "blessed by the mess" is there. Many like me are, none the less, striving for the unattainable goal of perfection.
My issue lies not with the "perfectionist" or with my disorganized self. Just with the word and the way the world views perfection. I say we rename it. A perfectionist can be "blessed with organizational skills". My fellow scattered sisters can be the "blessed with spontaneity and adaptation to change". No more perfectionists and no more slobs. Iron is supposed to sharpen iron.
I love that God made it that way. When one of my precious little ones is crushed because something is a challenge for them or because a sibling or friend out-shines them in an area, I sit them down and remind them of some special things. God gave each of us natural talents to be used to His glory. God also gave each of us natural struggles to be used to His glory as well. I realized in my continuous climb to reach the goal of becoming the woman, homemaker, wife, mother, etc that the world expects me to become, I forgot that this principal applies to me as well. I will embrace my willingness to pass up the mountainous laundry pile in order to play UNO with my little boy because that is what he needed RIGHT THEN. I will embrace the fact that it completely does not bother me at ALL to do this. At the same time I will fight the urge to throw my hands in the air when a disorganized area or schedule seems overwhelming. I will fall back on lessons taught to me by the more organized of my sisters in Christ and I will thank them for their natural talents. I will do my best to glorify God in BOTH instances, because that and THAT alone is the strive for perfectionism, the unattainable goal. Yet, the goal that when worked towards, always brings blessings. I will get real and stop pretending to be something I'm not.
So there it is,one of my personal challenges as a disgruntled Eve. Let us support one another and embrace our talents and challenges.
Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
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