The Paralysis of Perfectionism

A few months back I posted about how I had made a new covenant with myself to communicate more often with my blog. It was time to equip, encourage, and inspire others to achieve greatness in their lives, and form a more intimate relationship with their Savior. No longer would I sit idly by while there were droves of hungry people scouring the internet for content that would drive them to a closer walk with Jesus. And then, I did nothing. Weeks, in fact months, have gone by without a single post. Why? Perfectionism.


There have been countless topics that have rattled around in my head, endless ideas that I know would be a blessing to my readers. But with a growing business, a new baby (#4), and all the responsibilities of being a husband and father, how could I ever have time to write a post that lived up to the almost unreasonable standards I place on myself? I couldn’t, so I didn’t For some reason, in my mind it was better to do nothing and do it perfectly, than do something that could help others and perhaps it have a few mistakes or typos. Sound familiar?

Perfectionism is a nasty disease that affects far too many Christians, preventing them from achieving their goals and implementing their visions. Perhaps you won’t witness to your neighbor because you are so afraid you’ll say the wrong thing. Maybe you don’t volunteer for the church choir, because you know you’re not nearly as good as Sister Johnson in the 3rd row. And sadly, perhaps you’re even one of those churchgoers who has never experienced the unmatched peace and love that comes from a relationship with Jesus because, “you’ve got some things you need to get in order first”.

I’ve read the Bible cover to cover, and I didn’t find one perfect person other than Christ himself. Every other follower was blemished & flawed, especially at their time of conversion. The “hall of faith” in Hebrews 11 could just as easily have been a “hall of shame” as most of those listed have some of the most notorious failures and colossal screw-ups listed in the holy writ.



The fact is that God is not looking for perfect people, just willing ones. Moses couldn’t talk right, Joseph was a little too impressed with himself, David blew it in a moment of stupidity, Peter couldn’t seem to get his foot out of his mouth, and Paul was a hateful persecutor of anything that moved. However, the one thing they have in common is that they were all used by God in a powerful way. Could you be next? I’d love to hear your thoughts…

(I wrote this blog post in 20 minutes and only proofread it once. So it may not be perfect, but it is done, and out there on the internet to bless anyone who happens by the blog. Yes, I can do it, and will continue to do it…perfect or not.)