Are you a perfectionist? Has anyone ever referred to you as having a Type A personality? While being organized and having a leadership personality isn’t sin in and of itself, the enemy can use these otherwise honorable personality traits to wear us down, isolate us and cause us to be ineffective for the things of God.

As I was reading through scripture today I realized, perfectionism has definitely translated into a sin I struggle with. There are people and things I still want to control:

My health starts to waiver and I look to Dr. Google for diagnosis and treatment options.

Our children struggle in school or act out and I start researching ways to improve my parenting techniques.

The Holy Spirit convicted and reminded me that we are commanded to be faithful, not perfect!  Why am I so quick to forget this area of His grace?

Scripture shows us plainly that God has never looked for perfect people. He is simply looking for us to be faithful. Remember King David?

God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, he will do everything I want him to do (Acts 13:22).’

Despite King David’s respectable traits, he wasn’t perfect.  He committed sins involving not only adultery, but murder! It’s important to remind ourselves that we all fall short of perfection in everything we do (Romans 3:23). That’s why God sent His only Son to take our place as payment for sin (John 3:16).

Instead of striving to be perfect, let us measure ourselves against the biblical standard of faithfulness. When we start to do this, we will see that everyone around us is in the same boat (1 Corinthians 10:13). We will be less likely to isolate ourselves and more prone to confess our sins to other believers (James 5:16). This will help hold us accountable to our brothers and sisters in Christ, and encourage community. When we do life with other believers, we are stronger than when we try and do life alone (Proverbs 27:17).

So, as we go about our daily tasks this week, Lord, I pray you remind us to aim for the goal of being faithful when we fall short. Let us remember that only Jesus was perfect and in Christ, God promises to overflow us with His endless grace.

Note: If this post tugged at your heart, I would highly recommend the work of Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend. This post is an adaption of a devotional I read in the NIV Life Journey Bible which they both co-authored.