Recovering Perfectionist

I confess I have to strive daily to not reach an imaginary standard of perfection looming over me. Sometimes I feel confident in my attempts, making light of that standard as I limbo beneath it . . . How low can you go? Then there are times when I can barely clear it, and like a hurdler I make a mad dash for the finish line.

Jesus calls me to perfection, but not by any standard I can set. I know I am in a healthy place when He crashes my party, asking me to hand over the limbo stick, or when He blows the whistle and calls the race. But even then, He doesn't ridicule me like I am a delinquent teenager, or chew me out as though I have knocked over all the hurdles and lost the race.

Instead, He puts His arm around me and gently says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).