Thursday, February 07, 2013

It's Not a Shameful Thing; It's a Human Thing

Good Thursday morning! Under the grim microscope of perfectionism, my mistakes take on a shameful hue. However, it is not a shameful thing to make mistakes; it's a human thing. Since the fall of Adam, we have made mistakes. Individuals, kings, nations, groups and governments all make mistakes. Sometimes we delight in pointing them out to each other, but the perfectionist tends to writhe in shame over past mistakes until he or she is afraid to do anything at all.

It seems silly written down like this, but the perfectionist knows that humans are flawed and yet strives for perfection. A distraction at a critical moment may help. A simple tap on the shoulder, "You know, it's human to make mistakes." Maybe his mouse cursor will disappear for a while too. The Windows operating system is a good reminder that something might be good enough to be very successful and yet be full of mistakes too. Striving for excellence is good. Striving for perfection is enslavement to a god one can never satisfy.

Did you know that God twice said He was pleased with His Son before Jesus had completed his work? We tend to think that all of our work must be completed to perfection before God will let us into Heaven. The problem is that we spend our lives gradually discovering what that work includes...and we make mistakes along the way. The perfectionist Christian will live in terror of making that one mistake at the end that disqualifies him or her from Heaven. Good news for the perfectionist and everyone else too, the work of salvation belongs to Christ Jesus. We can't mess it up!

May the blessing of God find you in every circumstance today,
Bucky

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