The Heart Of Perfection: Trading Our Dream Of Perfect For God'sSample

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us

and persevere in running the race . . .

keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.”

(Heb 12:1–2a)

Where is “back home” for you? Mine isn’t one place but many. My family and I made half a dozen interstate moves before I turned 15, and at least twice as many between neighborhoods and schools. Each time I return to one of them, I’m struck by how much smaller they seem, how foreign they feel and how few people in them remember I even existed. I usually leave feeling displaced but oddly grateful for the reminder that “here we have no lasting city, but we seek the one that is to come” (Heb 13:14). 

The contingent nature of any earthly home is a lived reality for those who have moved as often as I have. Yet it’s a truth intended for everyone—especially perfectionists, who tend to spend more energy than we should trying to make our earthly homes and résumés and reputations shine. We want to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, but it’s so much easier to fix them on goods we can quantify in the here-and-now: dollars earned, honors won, people served. 

One thing that can help is to meditate on the biblical image of the pilgrim. Again and again in Scripture, we are reminded that “we are strangers and travelers, like all our ancestors” (1 Chron 29:15); “aliens and sojourners” (1 Peter 2:11); and “exiles” (Heb 11:13) whose “citizenship is in heaven” (Phil 3:20). 

When a perfectionist takes that pilgrim image seriously, amazing things can happen. Consider the case of Francis of Assisi, a 13th-century playboy-turned-preacher who traded a life of leisure and perfectionist people-pleasing for an itinerant existence spent preaching the Gospel barefoot and penniless. Francis’ single-minded focus on Christ made him a laughingstock to some. It also spawned a continent-wide renewal movement that inspired countless conversions from his day to ours.

Most of us are not called to witness to Christ through voluntary homelessness as Francis did. Yet each of us is called to follow in the footsteps of the poor man of Nazareth who “has nowhere to lay His head” (Luke 9:58). That means traveling light through this life, shedding any standards, status or stuff that would take our eyes off Jesus or slow us on our journey to heaven.

As we make that journey, we’ll face temptations to fall back into our perfectionist bad habits. Thankfully, we can count on God’s grace to swoop in and save us each time we do, as often as we cry out for His help (Ps 145: 18 – 19). 

That leads to the good news about our battle with perfectionism, and our long, sometimes winding road home to heaven: that with every step, and even our stumbles, we’re drawing nearer to Jesus. We’re coming to know His unconditional love through our undeniable need for it. And we’re discovering that nothing—not even our perfectionism—can separate us from His love. 

That discovery makes all the difference. It can even make the journey a joy.

Scripture: 

Read Romans 8: 28 - 39. 

Reflect:

Do you believe that God is for you—that God is on your side in your journey to heaven and your battle with perfectionism? That your weakness and failures cannot separate you from His love? That even now, God is working all things for your good, including your struggles with perfectionism? How have you seen evidence of those truths in the past five days? How should you live the next five days differently as a result? 

We hope this plan encouraged you. 

Connect with author Colleen Carroll Campbell and learn more about the book that inspired this plan. 

https://colleen-campbell.com/heart-of-perfection-youversion-devotional/#yv