Recently, on a broadcast of "Touched By An Angel," Monica made the following statement to a lady: "You have the right to be imperfect." She was encouraging the woman who was very depressed about not living up to the standards that God wanted for her. The woman was involved in a hit and run accident and was hiding it from everyone. Of course, she eventually admitted her wrongdoing and it changed her life around.
I must admit that I initially took issue with the statement: "You have the right to be imperfect." It just seemed to me that it was giving a free pass to everyone to avoid trying to achieve perfection. Our goal as Christians should be to become the best that we can in living the Godly life. But after a while, I began to conclude that maybe Monica had a point.
Psalm 51:5 reminds us that we are all born into a sinful world, and we are certainly affected by those circumstances. David acknowledged that he was born a sinner, and that at no time in his life was he without sin. That ran contrary to God's moral demands on his life. This caused him to face inner tension, knowing that God desires truth and wisdom in our lives.
Accordingly, maybe it is true that we have the right to be imperfect. However, like every right, we can "waive" that right and do all in our power to achieve God's perfection for our lives. And of course we know, that in Christ, we are brought into a right relationship with God. His perfection, through the doctrine of Justification, imputes to us in the form of "righteousness." He is our perfect model.
So when we fall short of God's standards for our lives, we should confess our sins; then stop agonizing over them; and next get up to try again for perfection.
