Some one commented to me about working with another person in their office that they were so ‘controlling’ and everything had to be perfect. That atmosphere is difficult for those around a person driven to make things right.
There is such a subtle difference between striving to make things right and having a spirit of excellence. There is also a difference between taking control of a situation and assuming the role to lead, and demanding in a dictatorial way.
Many years ago (I love to relate this story because it has impacted all of my life and I so want the experience to help others.) after fasting and praying, the Lord told me I had never loved Him, I loved what is right. I was devastated and cried buckets of tears as the truth of what He said went into my heart and soul. At the same time I felt His overwhelming love, and I had an enormous desire to change–the difference between conviction and guilt.
As we strive and work to make things perfect it is like a hungry dragon chained to our very being, that never can get enough. The more we do the more the dragon requires. He becomes our pet dragon; his name is frustration. Often he invites friends to join him and they are anger, guilt and despair. We did not invite them but we house them in ignorance of our fundamental need to accept who we are.
Major problem with that, is, we must know who we are. And, who truly lives inside of us. It is not the dragon of perfection, but the Lord of Glory. The one who desires to bring life and love to all He does. How the Holy Spirit must cringe as we overshadow His brightness with the darkness of our lust and our need to be right.
The reason and result that causes this is the mind that is conditioned by the pain and misunderstanding in the past. When we seek to control so it is because we don’t want to be hurt again. We seek to make things right so that we will be OK. This striving for perfection doesn’t give time to be healed and to soak in the acceptance of our Heavenly Father.
Once we have invited Jesus into our heart, and begin to renew our mind with His love and His ways (His pathways to prosper and succeed) the Holy Spirit will begin to bring forth in us, a spirit of excellence. It is not His Spirit but our spirit full of a desire to reflect the very best because we want to Glorify God in all we do. We must already know that as a child of God, as we were reconciled to the Father through the death of His Son, we are accepted, loved, cherished, forgiven and worthy.
When we truly know, our spirit will kill the dragon and our purpose will be full of desire not fear of failure. The dragon does not go down easily but he is no match for the power of the Holy Spirit when we give Him His way in our life. And, if we fail we quickly repent….change the way we think seeking the wisdom for our life the Father wants us to have. When we fail we must know that the failure did not change our status with our Heavenly Father, He still loves us and desires each of us in His Kingdom forever!
The striving urgency of being perfect is a need to be healed; and a spirit of excellence is a passion to reflect the Holy Spirit within. One brings fatigue and pain, the other brings purpose and rest in the sufficiency of God.
Those in our family, our friends, our workplace who are feeding a dragon need our love, our declaration to the dragon that they are part of the Kingdom of God and he and his friends must go. We smile, let the person be right, pray and trust the Holy Spirit to draw them into the place, where He can give them all they will ever need for purpose and excellence. We can’t do it alone, the Holy Spirit is very, very good at what He does and we have the privilege of sharing in that for His Glory and our Joy!