Dear Perfectionist:

You come in various forms. Let me spell it out for ya.

You could be the perfectionist who gives your very best to your schoolwork.  You will stay up until 4 AM if that's what it takes to get that totally-worth-it A, and you just can't - or won't - settle for a B.

B+? You've failed

You could be the one who labors tirelessly to make sure that the house is spotless - not even the most minuscule speck of dirt can be visible.

Otherwise, you've failed.  

You could be the one who endlessly compares yourself to every other human being, striving to achieve whatever it is they have. (e.g. "Their relationship just seems so perfect." "I wish my legs looked like hers." "He reads 4 chapters of the Bible a day!!")  Since you don't have it, you've got to work for it.  You wouldn't dare live your life knowing that the way someone else did something was the "righter" way to do it, and you missed out. So, you get whatever they've got.   

If you don't get it, you've failed. 

You could be the one who wakes up in the morning thinking about how you MUST love everyone, serve everyone, invest in everyone, never (or hardly ever, close enough) sin, never mistake, pray for 10 minutes (no more, no less), and read 3 chapters of your Bible and a devotional.

If you don't remember to do these things, you've failed. 

If you've ever said, "Dang. I just should have tried harder today. I sucked in so many ways." 

or, "I am seven days behind on my Bible reading plan. Looks like King Mess-Everything-Up is at it again."

or, "I FREAKING can never NOT burn dinner. When will I ever learn how to be the perfect husband?"

If any (or all) of these apply to you, this letter is for you. 

You are not perfect. You are not going to be perfect. No matter what you do, you will come short. Even on your best day, all of your best efforts combined would still not be enough. You can work and clean and preach and witness and remember the Gospel and be a light and serve selflessly and run a marathon and bake the best meal of all time and look like a supermodel and have a fight-less relationship and get along with all of your friends and be the head of a ministry and find the cure for cancer and and write a generation-changing novel and get all of the A's in the world ...

...and you still wouldn't be perfect.

The pursuit of perfection is a selfish pursuit. In the eyes of others, you are a "great kid," "the girl who always does the right thing," or "the goody two shoes." And in your head, you tell yourself that that is enough; that "the girl who always does the right thing" is close enough to perfect. 

But it's not. And you ache. You ache for something more, for something that changes you and gets you excited and moves you forward.  You yearn for a love so deep that it knows no bounds, not even the binding of the chains of perfection that tie you down.  You seek grace that you inhale, that seeps into your lungs, gives life to your soul, overflows, forcing you to exhale that same grace to others. You desire the forgiveness and kindness where your soul can find rest and not the expectation of perfection. 

If you are a follower of Christ, stop seeking approval from the God from whom you've already received approval through our one and only source of perfection: Jesus. 

Rest in his GRACE.

Remember his STEADFAST LOVE. 

Rejoice in his SALVATION. 

Seek His GLORY and FAME. 

Break free from the bondage of PERFECTION. 

But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

1 Corinthians 6:11 

Love, 

A Fellow Perfectionist Seeking to Remember this Daily.