Ecclesiastes 7:20 – Surely there is not a righteous person on earth who does good and never sins.

Even though we’ve all met people who thought they were, there is no one walking the world around us who has achieved perfection. Not even you. However, being armed with this knowledge rarely prevents us from trying to be perfect. We think, “I need the perfect house, the perfect job, to have/be the perfect spouse, have the perfect children, be the perfect friend,” and on and on it goes until we are left disappointed that we haven’t achieved the impossible.

One of the most counterintuitive situations we encounter is that in all this trying to be perfect, we sometimes end up further away from our goal. When striving towards a goal, our efforts should be measured and intentional. We’re going to make mistakes, but each time we fall back we can take a breath and learn something from it.

When Thomas Edison was being interviewed about developing his lightbulb, he was asked about all his failures. In response he said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” In your effort to reach perfection what can you learn from your mistakes and missteps?

Paul tells us in Philippians 3:12-15 “12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers and Sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.”

God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) the founder and perfecter of our Faith has already done the hard work of perfection. Let us lean into God’s perfection rather than trying to find our own.