I have been thinking about two common words, perfection and practice. These words have been involved in my life through work, sports, and daily living. But I realized each word has a tale to tell.

The Tale of Perfection

 It is an idea of being flawless and mistake free in obtaining your goal. I have been pushed to be perfect in all aspects of my life. The problem is I can never obtain it, nobody can. If perfection is reached, then what do you do? Reality is that perfection is a lie because no one can reach perfection. Please consider Jesus response to the religious leaders in Matthew 5:48, Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (NIV)

Consider another aspect of perfection, no grace. The demand of perfection is for you to achieve or you fail. You have one chance to do it right and there is no alternative. Grace allows us unmerited favor to work things out. Perfection allows for no mistakes or second chances.

The Tale of Practice

 It is what we do everyday. The routines we go through every morning to prepare for the day. It is what we do at work to overcome the challenges we face. Practice is how we respond to conditions set before us. We rely on the experiences of the past to make it through the present.

Practice is how we learn and grow. We make an attempt to fix a problem. If we fail in our approach to fix it, then we try another way. The second chance is called grace. Perfection only gives you one chance and you are done. Practice allows us to learn and grow through our experiences and mistakes. Please consider Paul’s encouraging words in Philippians 4:9, Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me-put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (NIV)

Which P should I apply in raising my children? Perfection will place a burden on my children challenging them to achieve something that is impossible. Practice will give my children a hope to work through each challenge in the journey of life. I choose practice!