Podcast episode #190 (You Don’t Have to Be Perfect to Be Obedient) by Shelley Hitz (recorded/posted May 13, 2025). The speaker reflects on perfectionism from a Christian perspective, citing Romans 3:23 to emphasize that all have sinned and therefore cannot achieve perfection on their own. The episode argues that striving in human strength toward arbitrary worldly perfection is futile; instead believers should rely on Christ ("the perfect One") who works in and through them. Practical takeaways include the maxim "the perfect is the enemy of the done," and the encouragement that you don't need to be perfect to be obedient — showing up and allowing God to work is central.
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One of the first scriptures that comes to mind when I think of just this idea of perfectionism is the simple verse of Romans 3:23, which says, for everyone has sinned, we all fall short of God's glorious standard. I think it's just good to be reminded that's where we all sit outside of Christ, we all fall short. And isn't this the whole reason why Jesus came in the first place, is to be able to bridge that gap so that we could be made right, so that we could be brought up to a standard that God would accept us through Christ. And so I think that's just a good baseline to say we've all fallen short, we're not going to be perfect, and yet we can still pursue God's best for us. So perfectionism often involves raising the bar to absurd heights and striving in our own strength. That's key right there. We're striving in our own efforts for something that only God can do. And I've recently heard that productivity experts have recently used the phrase the perfect is the enemy of the done. The perfect is the enemy of the done. In other words, it will keep us from moving forward and completing the work that God's called us to do so we can stop striving for an arbitrary worldly perfection and rest in the quote, perfect one, capital P, capital O. The perfect one being Christ alone. And so you don't need to be perfect to be obedient. You just need to show up. How many know that showing up is half the battle? Showing up for class, for example, is half the battle. If you'll show up and allow God to work in your life, he's going to do the work in and through us. He's going to perfect us, so to speak, day by day.