Jesus told us to “be perfect as your heavenly Parent is perfect” (Mat 5:48).  So, is striving for perfectionism a godly thing to do?  Surely not!  The biblical definition of the word “perfect” is far from our worldly understanding of it.

In the Bible, “being perfect” is never about not making mistakes and never sinning – that’s the counterfeit definition that the enemy has crafted, so that we would feel defeated and to stop us from sharing our struggles with one another.

God alone is all-knowing, all-powerful, and without sin or error.  If we attempt to reach this type of perfection, we are trying to be that which only God truly is.  This was Adam and Eve’s first sin in Eden.  Likewise, the devil tried to be God, and was kicked out of heaven.  Clearly, this is not the path to righteousness in Christ!

What Jesus is calling us to, rather, is to grow in our spiritual maturity, day by day, to become more like Christ – that is, closer to the perfection of the Godhead, reflected in our characters.  We do this by choosing to make love – for God and one another - our highest goal (Luke 10:27, 1 Cor 14:1).

When I became born again and started attending church as a teen, I got the impression that, as a Christian, I had to portray that I had no issues, and that nothing could ever go wrong in my life, because I have Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. Anything less would mean I had fallen short, and that I was a hypocrite.

I don’t blame the previous churches I attended for my distorted desire for perfectionism; I established mostly superficial relationships with those I’d met at church, partly to protect myself from being rejected if people discovered that I’m gay, but also in case they found out an even bigger secret: that I’m not perfect!

Recently, Pastor Deborah said that what makes a good Christian, is not someone pretending to be good all the time and without problems, but one who has finally come to a place where they can be authentic  in Christ – genuinely being exactly who they are meant to be in Christ, at any given time in their journey.

God is still dealing with me in my journey of overcoming perfectionism, and helping me to nurture authentic relationships with my family in Christ.  Praise God that the Spirit of truth sets us free!