Perfectionism: 3 Acts to Give Up TODAY

Many times, following God means giving up things that keep you from getting closer to Him. So today, let’s go a little deeper to release those ways that hinder a more intimate relationship with God. For instance, how about letting go of perfectionism?

Here are 3 unhealthy perfectionist behaviors you can give up in order to deepen your relationship with God:

1. Give up the notion that being a perfectionist is not masking a deeper issue. I have learned firsthand that 80% of my desire to be perfect was rooted in messages from my past that I wasn’t good enough. I reasoned that since I wasn’t good enough, I would make everything I did perfect. Sometimes we have to go back to heal these old wounds. If you choose this path, take this scripture on your journey: “The Lord is my light and salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1 (KJV)
2. Give up linking your self-worth and identity with those things external to you. Being a perfectionist is a self-worth issue, so valuing yourself by what you have and by what you do only feeds this beast. Sometimes we treat our self-worth as a composite score of our job title and other credentials, personal possessions, the neighborhoods we’ve lived in, the places we’ve traveled, etc. If just one of these things goes away, we see ourselves as less and the cycle to reach outside of ourselves, to claim something else, to perfect, starts all over again. The next time you find yourself trapped in this mindset reach for this scripture: “Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” Ephesians 3:20 (NLT)
3. Give up the desire to be right and embrace the desire to be right with God. The desire to be perfect is akin to always wanting to be right. Today, replace your ambition to be right with a desire to be right with God. “Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” Galations 2:15-17 (NLT)

This week, turn your blues to blessings by giving up perfectionism and embracing a deeper understanding of where your true value comes from.

 Share with 5 others who also may want to give up perfectionism.

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