Hi, my name is Wendy McCready, and I am a…perfectionist.
Alcoholics Anonymous and the Twelve-Step Recovery Program have made statements like these a common part of conversation. Common because every one of us has an addiction that can be filled into that blank.
Perfectionism is an addiction to which we as pastors’ wives can be particularly prone. With the constant expectations we have of ourselves and others piling up everywhere we go, it’s no wonder we fall so easily into thinking we need to do everything and be everything to everyone in order to perfectly serve Christ.
But most of us are juggling so much at once between church ministries and our family and jobs and community work or taking classes for school so we can improve our financial state. The strain becomes too much.
Something has to give. I can’t do everything. I can’t be all things to all people, but I still try. And why? Because I am caught up in the pursuit of humanly-defined perfection. Where does it leave me? Discouraged, guilt-ridden, and just plain burnt out!
So, how do I conquer this addiction to human perfection?
Oswald Chambers puts it this way, “Christian perfection is not, and never can be, human perfection. Christian perfection is the perfection of a relationship with God that shows itself to be true even amid the seemingly unimportant aspects of human life” (My Utmost for His Highest, December 2).
That voice of truth breathes relief into this confessed perfectionist. Through all this busy-ness and all these expectations if I am connected to my Lord, then I am on track. Yes, I will need to say “no” to some things, too. If I’m connected to Him, He’ll show which one of those things to which I will need to say that powerful word.
I don’t know of any “twelve-step” program for perfectionists like me, but I do know that the Word of God is the perfect plumbline. I am encouraged, my sisters, from this word as I race through my busy life, and I trust you will be too:
“He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” What will He do? “…sanctify you completely” and preserve you “blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).
Pursue Him, not perfection. He will complete His work in you.
May the God of peace be with us all. Amen.
