Chapter 9 of “Nothing is More Practical than Finding God: One of these 10 Practices Can Make This Happen for YOU” explains why it can be so difficult for you to maintain a healthy and accurate view of yourself – as a limited human person who will always have character defects, but yet, as a beloved child of God, created in God’s image and well worth loving. One of the keys to understand this Is knowing God never expects you to be perfect. Just as Pope Francis admitted, in his first interview as Pope, that he was a sinner and in need of God’s redemptive love we too are called to see ourselves as flawed and in need of the grace of God, who alone is perfect.
In Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, he relays the message Jesus gave him:
My Grace is enough for you. My strength finds its full scope in your weakness.
You may find that any one of the 10 Spiritual Practices highlighted in our book may help reduce your Perfectionism and expand your ability to accept and love yourself, because each one of them will give you a clearer picture of who you really are and who God really is. Each one of them could make it easier for God to deepen an intimate relationship with you, which can be a source of healing and love. As you grasp more deeply God’s love for you, you’ll be able to expand your love of yourself – just as you are – and stop trying to be perfect, something that’s absolutely impossible for you to be.