Are you a perfectionist? My perfectionism drove me toward a need to be right all the time. As a result, I discovered that my need to be right all the time led to me being wrong much of the time. The more I tried to be perfect, the more imperfect I became.

God calls us to move from perfectionism to excellence. Excellence features two components: authenticity and wisdom. The perfectionist has a blind spot to the fact that everyone and everything in this life will fall short, except God. Whereas perfectionism implies flawlessness, excellence recognizes (1) authenticity: understanding the truth about one’s strengths and shortcomings, and (2) wisdom: the intersection of God’s righteousness with street smarts-shrewdly doing the best with what we have. Jesus encouraged his followers to strive for excellence rather than perfectionism (Luke 5:35-39).

Are you struggling with perfectionism? Move toward excellence. Confess your shortcomings and shrewdly do the best with what you have.

For more, watch The Restoration Road with Mitch Kruse, Episode 7: A Fool’s Sin and the Restorer’s Grace

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