From Perfection To Wholeness
One of the most important discoveries in my journey was the shift from perfection to wholeness. And as simple as this may seem, these two words are worlds apart.
Perfection, for me, was derived in performance, in doing all the right things. I spent much of my early years in this things called Christianity trying to be perfect. But good wasn’t good enough. Perfection becomes a prison of debilitating proportions. It focuses on what is wrong as opposed to what is right. It focuses on what is bad as opposed to what is good. The engine of perfection actually drove me into the ground emotionally because perfection became a standard of impossibility.
Wholeness is different because it is not derived from a particular action or set of actions that I can accomplish. There’s a tremendous amount of freedom in the search for wholeness. It’s not dependent on what I do but who I am as a person. Wholeness focuses on being who I am designed to be, an eikon of Him, a reflection of the One I am cast from. And from this love I draw my validation, my love. And it is in being loved that I am made whole again, each day. I can’t earn that love. I can only accept it, embrace it, revel in it.
One of the things I have noticed in much of my listening to the story in the Garden is that it’s not declared perfect. But it is declared good. There’s a wholeness to that. God’s original design for humanity was based on wholeness, not perfection. And that wholeness was always worked out in being who I am designed to be, an partner in His creative endeavors.
And underlining wholeness is love. First to be loved by my Daddy. Surprisingly this took a long time to get my head around. And once I did I realized that I was called to love because that is what I was designed to do. I was designed to mimic my Father, to be like him, to be His reflection to the world. And when I chose to love I discovered that perfection followed.
There is only one place I can find that Jesus talks about being perfect. It’s in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. Jesus says,
43“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
And this statement is talking about love. My wholeness is found in love. It’s not based on a subjective sets of laws or propositions, a set of beliefs or creeds, but on love. And when I do that I find His perfection.
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