Perfectionism is a burden that is hindering Christians around the world, causing us to feel anxious, angry and even paralyzed at times. So how can we learn to accept God’s measurement for our lives?

Author Dr. Amy Baker says the quest for perfection will never transform a heart, but God’s word can. She explains the mentality of a perfectionist who might see themselves as someone who doesn’t measure up.

“For those of us who are perfectionists, when we don’t measure up we tend to wallow in failure; we beat ourselves up, we notice every little mistake that we’ve made even if others would say that it was a success, we can find 10 things wrong for everything that was right.”

God’s view of our imperfections is very different from our own. She elaborates on this truth found in Psalm 103.

“As a father has compassion on those children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers we are dust.”

“Isn’t it just so comforting to think of a God who knows how hard this for us? He knows that we are dust.”

Psalm 103 also reveals how God responds to our sinful nature,

“The Psalm says, ‘He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, or pay if according to our iniquities.’”

“In fact it says, ‘For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far as He removed our transgressions from us. The Lord is gracious and compassionate; He is slow to anger, abounding in love. He forgives all of our sins…He redeems our lives from the pit.’ 

“It would be enough if He just pulled us out of the pit and said, ‘Just sit there and try not to mess anything up,’ but then He crowns us with love and compassion and satisfies our desires with good things.”

Dr. Baker expands on the mercy and grace that God so freely gives us, despite our struggle with perfectionism.

“We belong to a God who is incredibly merciful; merciful to people who don’t measure up, merciful to people who have turned away from our true and living God and have begun to worship the false god of perfection, merciful to people who think that something else is going to satisfy them more than God is. A stark contrast between the two, isn’t it?”

Highlight: Do you struggle with perfectionism?

Embracing God’s standards