5 Ways the Bible Encourages and Challenges Perfectionists
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In the Dead Poets Society, Neil Perry is burdened by the pressures placed on him by his father. Although he tries to break free from these restraints to pursue things he is interested in, such as acting, his father sets a definitive rule. He must leave his beloved school and enter a strict military school to better prepare for his expected career in medicine. Crushed by these expectations, Neil takes his life in a desperate and tragic act.
The movie presents, in a dramatic way, the effects of being burdened by unrealistic standards and the subsequent need to be open with others. Like Neil, those who struggle with perfectionism feel pressured to reach unattainable standards that are either self-inflicted, placed by others, or placed by society. These standards impact a person’s entire life, as they can lead to serious mental health issues and relationship problems. Perfectionism may be considered by some as a personality quirk, but it can be debilitating.
Scripture has much to say about perfection and our association with it. In God’s Word, we are confronted with truths that can and should shift our perspectives and standards. Let us listen to the words of Him who made us and find healing as we strive toward wholeness – not unrealistic perfection.
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1. The Lord Alone Is Perfect
The One who is perfect in every way is the Lord God. Scripture tells us that, “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he” (Deuteronomy 32:4). He never sins or fails to act in righteousness. As another verse tells us, there is no darkness in Him since He is light (1 John 1:5).
If we want to know what ultimate perfection looks like, then we need look no further than the Bible. It shows how the Lord has acted throughout history, as well as what He will do in the future. Want to know the greatest, most faultless love? Look at the cross where God the Son died for our sins (Romans 5:8). Or how about complete faithfulness? We find this character trait in the Lord who acts in “perfect faithfulness” (Isaiah 25:1). God is the One whose ways (2 Samuel 22:31), Word (Psalm 18:30), will (Romans 12:2), and commands are flawless (Psalm 19:7).
That is what we would expect from the Lord who alone is perfect in holiness. What He does and decrees is perfect because He can commit no evil. God does not make mistakes, and every decision He makes is right.
Such completeness is overwhelming since we do not have many examples of perfection. The closest thing we might compare it to is the exactness of math or the aesthetically pleasing effects of art. Yet artists and craftsmen struggle to capture what they would call a “perfect” piece of art. For even the finest attempts at creative activity – and think of how many wonderful pieces of music, paintings, writings exist – cannot fully capture what the artist intended.
That longing and striving for perfection show us that a perfect piece of art, and artist, must exist. And He does – God is that Artist, the One whose handiwork continues to bring awe to all humankind, and which reveals His qualities (Romans 1:20). He is the ultimate standard of perfection because He alone is perfect.
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2. All of Us Fall Short of God’s Glory
Humans were made in the image of God, which means He endowed us with certain attributes and abilities that reflect His own nature (Genesis 1:27). We can express creativity and emotions as He does, and each person has dignity as an image-bearer. Sadly, though, the first humans chose to sin against God and each person since then has continued in this cycle. As the epistle to the Romans says, “All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one,” and “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:12, 23).
In our sinfulness, we can never live up to God’s righteous standards. We could spend our entire lives trying to obey every law meticulously yet still fall short because our good deeds cannot outweigh the bad things we do (Isaiah 64:6). For when we break one law, we are guilty of violating all of them, thus becoming lawbreakers (James 2:10).
Believing, then, that we can achieve perfection through our relentless striving is unrealistic. We will never follow God’s law flawlessly, let alone our self-imposed standards or the expectations of others. When we consider the absolute holiness of our Lord, we see how lowly and sinful we are in comparison. The anxious strivings of perfectionism fail to recognize the awesomeness of our Lord, and the reality of the human condition.
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3. We Need the Grace of God
Scripture tells us that God gave us the law to make us aware of our sin and our need for Him. As the Apostle Paul explained, he would never have known what sin was if not for the righteous law given by the Lord (Romans 7:7). The point is that we could never live up to the perfection of the Lord – That is why He sent His Son.
Jesus did what we could not do. He perfectly followed the law and committed no sin. The sinless One took our sin upon Himself to pay the penalty for our wrongdoing (2 Corinthians 5:21). Because of His death and resurrection, we are washed clean and made new. As Titus 3:5 tells us, “He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” Whenever the Father looks at believers, He sees Christ whose blood covers us. For in Jesus, we are declared righteous.
When we consider the role of sin in our lives and the message of the gospel, our neediness is revealed. We are helpless to change our condition and could never wash away our sins on our own. The gift of grace is so much more powerful because of our need for help. None of us deserve the salvation that Jesus died to give us, but He gives it to us freely when we place faith in Him (Ephesians 2:8-9). The perfect Lord met us in our need and lovingly provided a way for us to be in a relationship with Him.
Our need for grace and forgiveness does not stop the moment we place faith in Jesus. As we live in this world, we will continue to struggle with sin. We will hurt people, even those we care about, and they will inevitably hurt us. Everyday there is a need to be aware of our own sinfulness so that we can forgive and be forgiven. To think that we will always act perfectly is to ignore the very reason Jesus came to die for us. Nobody is perfect, yet we do serve a holy and flawless Lord who loved us and gave Himself for us. In Him, we are declared righteous and empowered to walk in godliness.
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4. We Will Always Be Growing
Perfectionists are not as likely to take a growth mindset when approaching tasks or goals. They so intensely fear failure that they avoid any possibility of making mistakes. And if a mistake does occur, a perfectionist will berate himself severely.
The Bible, though, shows us that we are supposed to grow as believers. It is not as if we reach maturity as soon as we place our faith in Christ. Scripture uses the image of branches growing to describe us; Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches (John 15:5). We will always be learning and growing in our walk with Jesus, with periods of fruition as well as times when we need pruning. Yes, we will sin, but the Holy Spirit will convict us and lead us back on the path we need to be on.
God is working to bring us to maturity and wholeness since He wants us to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18). As we keep following the Lord and living out His commands, we will make advances in our Christian walk. But we should not be quick to take credit for the growth. All of this is still the work of grace as the Lord works to grow us.
If our great God is patiently working in us, then why should we be so hard on ourselves? There is a place for straining forward and continuing the road of discipleship despite challenges. However, endlessly criticizing ourselves for failing to reach a certain standard makes us unable to rest in the love of our Lord. When we sin and confess it to the Lord, He forgives us (1 John 1:9). He is a holy and just God, who is also full of grace and mercy. We can trust that He will finish the work He started in us, which includes walking with us through the ups and downs of life (Philippians 1:6).
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5. We Are Called to Be Perfect as God Is Perfect
In an article about perfectionism, it probably seems strange to mention the Bible’s command to be perfect. Jesus told the disciples to “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). His words echo a verse from Leviticus, which says, “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2; see also 1 Peter 1:15). Our purpose is to be imitators of our Lord, which includes this command to “be perfect.”
Before we start thinking that Christians can achieve a state of complete sinlessness, though, we need to consider what this word means. In the biblical Greek, the word refers to completeness and maturity. As mentioned in Barnes’ Notes, “This word commonly means ‘finished, complete, pure, holy.’" We see this definition reflected in the way the word is used in other verses such as 1 Corinthians 14:20 and Ephesians 4:13. Our growth, or sanctification as it is known in theological terms, is meant to make us mature and restore us to wholeness.
God is set apart from all creation by being perfect in holiness and righteousness. However, He has given Christians the ability to walk and grow in godliness for they have His Spirit living inside them. He produces fruit in our lives that bring honor and pleasure to the Father (Galatians 5:22-23). By walking in accordance with the Spirit, we do not obey the sinful nature (Galatians 5:16). Instead, we live to obey our Lord to express our love and gratitude for the salvation He has provided.
We are meant to move toward completeness as we await the coming of Jesus who will give us glorified, resurrected bodies. On that day, we will reach maturity and will be like our Lord in the sense that we will no longer be able to sin – not that we will be divinely perfect as He is (1 John 3:2). Believers will live for all eternity in joy, for sin and death will no longer have any power.
So, we longingly await the day of Jesus’ coming even as we keep growing by His grace and power. Wholeness – not unrealistic perfection – is the goal of our discipleship journey.
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