Perfectionism

[Dorothy]

Can anyone comment on how our weaknesses make us strong? This seems opposite to Perfectionism which tries to hide weaknesses to appear ‘perfect’ to others.

"Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; 9 but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong. "

• 1 Cor 12:8-10

When we acknowledge our weaknesses and go prayerfully before the Lord and ask Him for His grace and strength then we grow spiritually through that.

St. Paul had a “thorn in the flesh”, which we don’t know exactly what it was. It could have been a pain of some kind that didn’t leave him, or a battle against temptation that he had to keep not giving into.

 

[steph_86]

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48.

God demands of us, only one perfection, which is perfection in love. And this perfection in love demands one thing, which is faithful and unquestioning obedience, whose foundation is humility. Obedience in submitting our intellects to the truths of our Faith, obedience in submitting our wills to the Will of God, obedience in submitting our spirits and our souls to the Love of God.

 

[fhansen]

But if Christian perfection involves achieving what is essentially impossible for us then aren’t we setting ourselves up for failure and disappointment? But, if God is just asking us to be who he created us to be, to be our full human potential, ie. before the fall of Adam, then it is possible for us to be that way since that was our original design. God wouldn’t expect the impossible from us. It may be difficult or impossible for us to achieve Christian perfection in an already fallen state, but after baptism we are no longer slaves to sin and with God’s grace it becomes possible as our hearts are transformed by him.

That’s what I’m getting at-and that’s the difference between the old and new covenants.
“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matt 19:26
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John15:5
Let us put it very simply: man needs God, otherwise he remains without hope. Pope Benedict, Spe Salvi.

IMO God is asking us to simply be exactly who He intended us to be, no more and no less-that’s our holiness, our “wholeness”. But if we’re effectively separated from Him, which is a consequence of the Fall, then we fail at doing even that. His will is left undone in us. To the extent that we are reconciled with and can then commune with God, we are healed and moral integrity can be restored; the process of justification takes place in us as He becomes our God again and begins to place His Laws in our hearts and write them on our minds as per the New Covenant prophecy in Jer 31 which is referenced in Heb 8 & 10. This reconciliation is the purpose of the Atonement.