Perfectionism and Pride

By Twinklemoose

Rand is camping for a few days with our eldest son, and I happen to have a post in my back pocket, so ...



Perfectionism is the attitude we get that doesn't let us do anything imperfect. For the most part, it simply stops us from doing anything at all. When it comes to Christian service, God is glorified in our imperfection. It's because we are imperfect vessels, that we can't and don't get puffed up with pride when we serve God with obedient hearts.

Pride is the attitude we get that permits us to:
*take credit for our Christian service
*compare ourselves to other Christians to see how we are doing in relation to them
*claim to be serving God when we are really rebelling against Him (this was Cain's first sin)

Perfectionism is a kind of pride. Perfectionism is me trying to do good works to impress other Christians. At one time in my Christian life, I went door to door leaving Bible tracts in mailboxes. Did I do it out of compassion for the lost, to lead souls to Christ? No. I did it out of a sense that I needed to evangelize to measure up with Christians around me. I did it because it was a way to get my points without speaking to people directly. After a while, I stopped doing that type of evangelism, partly because I knew my heart wasn't right. But perfectionism prevented me from doing anything at all. I felt I needed to speak with people to share the Gospel - that would be better than leaving mailbox tracts. But both can be equally used of God. And however imperfect my efforts, the tracts are way better than doing nothing. So now I'm back to leaving tracts - when I go out of the house, I bring some and find places to leave them. And this time I know I am in Christ. I desire to do this work.

If anyone tries to tell me I'm not doing a good thing because I'm not speaking with people, I will say God can use my imperfect efforts, and if they are not doing something to evangelize, they should stop being such a perfectionist and get busy.

If anyone tries to tell me I am doing a good thing, I will say I'm not gaining any extra points with God, and man's approval is really worthless. My future in heaven with Christ is already assured, and I just want to bring as many people along with me as I can.

Nonetheless, if you pray for me, pray God will loosen my tongue to speak with the lost more.