Growing up, I got it in my head that anything less than perfect was terrible. No one told me this; and it wasn’t something demanded or even expected in our home. It was something I formed an opinion about on my own and made perfection my goal.

The problem was that it was unachievable. First of all, what teenager going through hormone and skin changes can realistically be perfect? (None.) Secondly, who was the example? Who was perfect enough to emmulate? I didn’t know anyone, so my view of perfection was taken from a dozen sources– one friend’s hair, another’s pretty skin, the girl with the cute laugh, or the body of the model on the fashion magazine.

And if that wasn’t enough pressure, it migrated into if you had the right clothes, the right car, the right house, or lived on the right street or in the right neighborhood.

To be perfect meant to have all the required or desired elements, qualities, or characteristics; flawless and without fault.

Big fail.

This is what my mirror told me every day: you’re a big fail Daph. And this shaped me more than I realized, until I met Jesus at the age of 21 and gave my heart and life to Him.

My initial understanding of Christ was that He would make me perfect. How quickly I realized that didn’t happen (at least not by my definitions). It’s hard to be flawless when your thinking is so flawed (insert melting emoji here).

Gratefully, I soon learned that Jesus, and only Jesus, was perfect. It honestly took years to reverse my poor self-image but my love for Jesus through His Word was working miracles I couldn’t see. Working from the inside-out, the Word of God transformed my heart and I learned that “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).

As my heart changed, so did my thinking (and view of perfection).

The Perfect Lamb

Perfection was instituted and elevated through the command of sacrifice. The first mention of an “unblemished (perfect) animal” is found in Exodus 12:5. This requirement was given just before the tenth plague in Egypt, where the blood of a perfect lamb placed on the doorposts of every Israelite would protect them.

Later in scripture, the law required two unblemished (perfect) lambs to be offered daily to maintain fellowship between God and people, one in the morning and one in the evening.

These statutes became the template for God’s ultimate goal: to offer a final, perfect sacrifice for the sins of all mankind through Jesus His Son. It would save and protect us and usher in unending fellowship with our Heavenly Father.

“For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver of gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Why perfection matters

John Mark Pantana in his book, Love Secrets, said, “This beautiful exchange was foretold in the Old Covenant sin offering. In the Old Covenant, when you sinned, you brought a lamb to your local priest. The priest did not inspect you; he inspected the lamb. It was obvious why you were there– you sinned. If the lamb was deemed perfect, you placed your hands on this animal without blemish as it breathed its last. It was taught that in this moment, your sin was imputed to the lamb, and the lamb’s righteousness was imputed to you.”

Christ is our lamb.

To quote one more for beautiful clarification: Patsy Camaneti, in her book, Daily at His Table, said, “Jesus, the Lamb of God, had to qualify to carry out the final and most important sacrifice of all. One defect, one mistake, one poor choice, one lie, one act of rebellion or disobedience would have rendered Jesus as an invalid sacrifice for our sin, because He would have become a sinner along with the rest of us.”

This is why the Father could receive Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for us– Jesus was perfect.

And Hebrews 10:4 now tells us, “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified.” That’s you and me. No more striving; no more manmade perfection required (it was impossible anyway). Our perfection comes from Christ. 

My prayer is that this revelation sets you free or at the least sets you on a journey to receive (fully) what Jesus has done for us. Whatever self-made idea of perfection we were striving for must be redefined. His perfect sacrifice is all the perfection you and I will ever need.