Perfection

Last week Emily and I went to a bridal shower.  The bride-to-be is a special friend of Emily's.  She leads a  girls Bible study that Emily attends.  At the shower, she shared how she came to know the Lord and how her and her finace met.  It was a great story!

There was something that she said that I have been mulling around in my mind ever since.  She talked about how she had wanted her fiance to be perfect.  And in her mind, she had an idea of what that looked like.  But then she realized that if he was perfect, she would be tempted to worship him.  He would become her God, and she would not need Jesus anymore.  Wow!  What an amazing thought from a young lady, not even married yet!

I have been thinking about how tempting it is to long for perfection, not only in a spouse, but also in our children or even in friends.  But I would never verbalize it like that....that I am longing for perfection (even though that is really what I am doing).  I just have an idea of how I think someone should act or behave.  But what if my husband, children and friends did everything I wanted?  What if they behaved exactly as I expected? I would worship them!  I would put them on a pedestal and think more highly of them than I should.

Until now, I have never really thought seriously about how detrimental it would be to my spiritual life to have a perfect, or even near perfect person in my life!  So why do I desire it?   As much as we long for perfect relationships, we must realize that they would draw us away from our Lord.  And that thought should help us celebrate our differences and be thankful for the unmet expectations that we have.  Those longings that we have can never be filled by someone else!!  Praise God!!

We do have a perfect husband and friend!  His name is Jesus!  He will meet every need that we have!  He is our one and only....He is perfect!!! :)