Myth of Perfection

“Perfectionism is a self destructive and addictive belief system that fuels this primary thought: If I look perfect, and do everything perfectly, I can avoid or minimize the painful feelings of shame, judgment, and blame.” Brene’ Brown

I have been reading some books by Brene’ Brown and this quote has stopped me in my tracks. How many times do we try to be perfect so that we “can avoid or minimize the painful feelings of shame, judgment, and blame.” In our Christian life, are we needlessly trying to be perfect in order to please God’s favor? Do we feel like we could earn God’s love? Do we continue to bury the feelings of shame of the sins in our past so that God will view us as perfect?

“As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭103:13-14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

What a promise in this verse! God knows how we are formed. We are made of stinking dust! He knows our frailties too well. We can’t hide our imperfections from our creator. No matter how hard we try, we can’t hide the past mistakes that we are ashamed of. But that is the point and the victory in this verse,

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

None! Absolutely no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We are wasting our time and effort to run from our imperfections. It is impossible to run from them because there is a delete button.

“And he has taken our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭103:12‬ ‭ERV‬‬

We can’t comprehend how far the east is from the west. No way to measure this. God is trying to tell us that he does not see us with our past sin sitting in front of our face. He sees Jesus standing in front of our face, as the covering for past and present and future sins. He literally covers our imperfections! Highest praise to Jesus!

“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12:2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

All Sinners Are Thrown Out

“Whether they are a man or a woman, send them away so that the camp where I am living among you will not be made unclean.””
‭‭Numbers‬ ‭5:3‬ ‭ERV‬‬

This time of the year, I am reading through Leviticus and Numbers. When I read these books, the rules seem so harsh. These particular verses have always bothered me. If a person has leprosy, they had to leave the camp for a time. I would be sent out of camp a lot because of my sensitive skin. My skin would make me unclean.

They were not welcome because they were unclean.

“and give their offering to the Lord. Their offering must be: a one-year-old male lamb that has nothing wrong with it for a burnt offering; a one-year-old female lamb that has nothing wrong with it for a sin offering; one ram that has nothing wrong with it for a fellowship offering;”
‭‭Numbers‬ ‭6:14‬ ‭ERV‬‬

All of the offerings that the Israelites used to make atonement for their sins had to be perfect...nothing wrong with it. No flaws whatsoever.

“Any man who has something wrong with him must not serve as priest and bring sacrifices to me. These men cannot serve as priests: blind men, crippled men, men with bad scars on their faces, men with arms or legs that are too long,

But he cannot go through the curtain into the Most Holy Place and he cannot go near the altar. This is because he has something wrong with him. He must not make my holy places unholy. I am the Lord, and I make these places holy.””
‭‭Leviticus‬ ‭21:18, 23‬ ‭ERV‬‬

Even if the heart of the priest is pure, if he has imperfections in his physical appearance he could not serve!

When you read all of these requirements for keeping the camp holy and making the sacrifices holy, you can get discouraged and ask, "Who can ever measure up to that perfection?"

The answer is no one. Not one. We can never ever be perfect enough to stand in God's presence. Our skin can never be blemish-free enough. I always have a rash somewhere on my skin. There can never be a sacrifice great enough that I could offer to a holy God. We can never live a life that is sin-free. It is useless trying to please God, except...

A perfect lamb was found. A perfect priest was found. A perfect, faultless life was found. And it gets even better. This sacrifice counted forever. It did not have to be done over and over and over. That is the incredible news about what Jesus did for me and for you. I do not have to be perfect. Jesus's blood covers me. Because of Jesus, I can come boldly before the throne of God. What an incredible promise!