GOOD NEWS FOR THE PERFECTIONIST - 1 COR 13:12

Anyone can second guess an important decision -

• Buying a used car
• Choosing one college over another
• Getting engaged

But expert-level overthinkers like myself can fourth, fifth, and sixth guess even trivial decisions -

• What do I do first?
• How should I spend the next hour?
• Should I eat that?

I know this is tied to my perfectionistic tendencies. If I think about it long enough, surely I will find the perfect solution. If I don't think it through well enough, I am likely to make a mistake.

But certainty is elusive, so I go round and round in my mind.

Knowing this is how I am wired, I take great comfort in 1 Corinthians 13:12  "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

It encourages me to recognize that perfection and certainty are necessarily elusive. BECAUSE my knowledge is incomplete. 

Just before this passage, Paul writes, "When perfection comes, the imperfect disappears" (10).

True perfection is coming One Day. And all that is imperfect will fade away. Meaningless.

That's good news to the perfectionist: Your striving for perfection isn't wrong, it's just premature. Give it time and some day you will see God reveal the Perfect. 

Until then, admit to yourself that you know nothing in full. There will be mistakes.