Many Christians spend their days trying to be the perfect Christian. Day in and day out, they put in hard work trying to say and do everything right, all the time. Honestly, it’s exhausting.
While the Bible does call on us to imitate Jesus, the truth is we can never be perfect like Him. Jesus was the only human who ever lived that was able to be sinless, and we will not be able to replicate that.
We all have already sinned – countless times!
Even if we put in every amount of effort and willpower we can muster into perfection, we will always fall short. Romans 3:23 says “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Here are the reasons why you shouldn’t strive to be a perfect Christian.
God knows we aren’t perfect.
Admit it to yourself – you are not a perfect Christian. No one is perfect, and no one ever will be. You will run into situations where you doubt Christ, where you feel like God isn’t there, or you sin against Him. This is all normal for Christians to go through, and doesn’t make you any less a child of God. You are perfect in God’s eye just the way you are.
God loves you no matter what mistakes you make, and actually uses your mistakes for a greater purpose. God’s grace means that all of your mistakes now serve a greater purpose later, instead of serving shame. God knows you aren’t perfect and He doesn’t want you to try and be. The things you go through in life are a part of His plan for your bigger and brighter future.
You don’t have to earn God’s love.
God gave us the beautiful gift of salvation out of the love inside His heart. Many Christians, however, forget that this is a gift – and not something that needs to be earned through specific acts. We live in a society where anytime someone gives us something, we feel that we “owe” them in return. God doesn’t expect this of us. Ephesians 2:8-9 says “God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”
There are certainly great things you can do as a Christian that will flourish your relationship with Christ. Reading the Bible regularly, praying daily, and attending church are all great ways to continue your spiritual journey. However none of them are a necessity to earn God’s love. Even the most “perfect” Christian – who studies their devotional for hours a day – will receive the same love as someone who is just now accepting God into their heart. God doesn’t want us to stress about being a good Christian, He instead wants us to stay focused on Him and give Him our hearts. Jesus called the Pharisees out on this exact thing when He said “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Matthew 15:8). No matter how many good Christian actions we do, if God doesn’t have our heart they mean nothing.
No one can achieve perfection.
Striving to be a perfect Christian just sets you up for failure. Trying to be perfect like Jesus is simply impossible for the average human, and you will drive yourself crazy trying to attain perfection. Doing so will slowly eat away at your self-esteem, because you can never get it right 100% of the time. You will become frustrated, angry, and feel defeated. This will only take you further away from Christ! Your negative emotions will open you up to temptation by Satan. In these moments, he will whisper to you that you are a failure, aren’t worthy of God, etc. These are all false statements that you have to ignore. Remember that no one is perfect, so you should never try to be.
God doesn’t want us to try and be perfect Christians. God wants us to grow our relationship with Him and give our heart to Him. He knows our true intentions and that is all that matters. Be the best Christian you can be, but don’t feel you have to be an angel.
