THE PERFECT IMPERFECT

The room for improvement has no egress; all it has is an entrance; and in there, you can always see the horizon! Gina Bello 

THE PERFECT IMPERFECT  

Philippians 3 vs12 – Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

Vs 13 – Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. 

Vs 14 – I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 

Each and every one of us may harbour a dream, be filled with a desire, or have set resolutions or goals to attain. In the pursuit of these, we may come headlong with failing moments – obstacles of progress, or our own hindering blunders. Being fallible, we fumble and almost perpetually have to face our imperfection, as it gapes daily at us. This can be frustrating, especially when progress and accomplishment appear afar off. On the contrary, we may have a feather in our cap – accomplishments that can be traced to us. However, should we even have made great progress, there is still an insatiable desire in man to achieve more than he already has. A need to produce better results, or explore a new thing/area altogether. We are therefore daily hoping to approach a perfect end – staggering or with a stride. 

Paul in the above scriptural verses, after asserting his imperfection, uses exemplary teaching to encourage us not to lose heart. We must endeavour to fight on until our dreams materialise. In pressing on, it will be prudent to set goals, readily put measures in place to get us to our goal/destination, to organise ourselves, and to work steadily to achieve our aim. Whether succeeding or failing, we must dream on! When a man stops dreaming, he dies! We should have something to live for; to look up to each day. In case we are drained out, with no purpose to focus on, we can pray to God to help us birth a new dream, as there is a reason for our being on earth. We must strive to fulfill our destiny.

It is expedient to leave the past behind in order to embrace the future. We must deliberately part with our very past – shame and/or glories. We should have the mindset to rise from every fall; to dream again; to not wallow in our successes as we may gloat and be bloated with pride and explode together with our very achievements. 

Philippians 3:15a – Let us therefore as many as be PERFECT, be thus minded. This is the ultimate! As imperfect as we are, our beings are lined with elements of perfection. We are God’s perfect creation in imperfect jars of clay. Our perfection lies in our ability to accept our imperfection, and reach out to God for strength to make an impact with our lives – just as we are! We should persevere and fight to accomplish our dreams. We must learn to put the past behind us and expect the sun to shine on each new day. We need to fill our hearts with faith and hope for tomorrow, and depend on God to cause us to smile. Once we are able to do all of the above, we shall become perfect imperfects – the handiworks of a perfect creator!