I remember receiving an email years ago that was filled with beautiful nature-type photographs and wise sayings. One of the captions caught my interest. It read:
I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence I can reach for; perfection is God’s business. (Michael J. Fox)
How often do you strive for perfection when you simply can not reach it? You become disappointed in yourself and others when you/they don’t meet lofty expectations. You wait for the perfect time, perfect spouse, expect your children to be perfect….
Perfection is truly God’s business. We strive for it because we are made in His image and want what He wants. We want to perform perfectly and never lose our temper; always be on time; exercise and eat right every day; keep an orderly schedule and home; greet our families with a smile and heart full of joy, etc., etc., etc.
No one can perform perfectly. Those expectations set you up for feelings of failure….deeming yourself as a failure – as well as those that you expect to never make a mistake. It’s futile. We all make mistakes daily.
Let those mistakes be a help to you. Allow them to show you how “not” to do something the next time. Use the mistakes instead of letting them discourage you.
Expecting yourself to be perfect is a trap. It assures you will be disappointed.
“Excellence I can reach for.”
Striving for excellence and knowing it’s a continual goal gives you a sense of peace and understanding… We have an intimate God who will help us and give us grace to reach our lofty goals. Call on Him, He will hear you and help you.
The better goal is: Progress not perfection.
Perfection is God’s job, let’s strive for excellence!
And when we look back in a year we will see our striving was not in vain.
We may not be perfect (or our loved ones) but we aren’t what we used to be!
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)