There is a desire deep inside of us to be free of imperfections and weaknesses. This leads us to look and strive for perfection in our lives. People spend thousands of dollars to look perfect and to dress perfectly. Some spend tens of thousands of dollars to make their house look perfect and to have the perfect furniture and landscape. We expect our children to have perfect grades and act perfectly!
The perfection we seek is unreasonable, and it creates ungodly expectations of ourselves and others. Furthermore, when our high expectation is not met, we can easily be disappointed and seek perfection somewhere where we can control things.
And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:3-4
Our desire for perfection is rooted in our desire to be in heaven someday where there is no sin, shortcomings, rejection, criticism, disease, or failures. We tend to compensate for those desires by putting ungodly focus on things that their perfection don’t have eternal value.
Perfection is a trap of the enemy. If we get caught up with being perfect, it will create, at least, four major problems. First of all, when God asks us to take a stand against something, we will have a hard time losing the approval of people. Second, if the Lord asked us to let go of our perfection in a certain area because it has caused us distraction, it will be difficult to obey the Lord and make the sacrifice because it has become part of our identity. Third, maintaining the image of perfection will make us slaves to a man-made standard. Fourth, people are watching us to see if they can do the Christian life successfully. Creating an unrealistic standard can discourage others who desire to follow the Lord!
Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation.” Daniel 5:12
The scripture tells us that Daniel had an excellent spirit. It does not tell us that he was perfect nor does it imply he was seeking perfection. His excellent spirit led him to have the right heart before God, and he desired to do what pleased God. His excellence wasn’t to impress people with his visions, interpretation of dreams, or his lifestyle. As a matter of fact, his lifestyle of prayer and excellence caused much controversy and trouble for him.
Daniel did not face the problems of perfectionism because that was never his focus. As a result, he was a powerful instrument for God to be glorified through him. Lord, help us to have an excellent spirit but not seek perfection!
