Slavery to Perfection

In Romans 6:17-18 Paul says, "But thanks be to God that though you
were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of
teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin,
you became slaves of righteousness."
In this passage Paul says that we've been freed from sin to become
slaves of righteousness. Some people confuse this state with
perfectionism. Slaves to perfection are ones who are never satisfied
unless their behaviour is without fault, their heart is always pure and that
every rule is obeyed.
A slave of righteousness on the other hand, is one who understands that
present imperfections are covered by the grace of Christ and not made
perfect by the effort of the individual.
The greatest difference between a slave of perfection and a slave of
righteousness is satisfaction. The perfectionist seems to accomplish
more on the surface but inside there is chronic unhappiness.
The slave of righteousness doesn't achieve all that needs to be done but
because his righteousness is produced by Christ and obtained through
faith, he does manage to accomplish the one thing perfectionism cannot
produce – peace of mind. Take a close look at perfectionists and you'll
see that they're often busy but rarely blissful.
We all seek for the peace of mind that comes from being perfect and
righteous with God. Paul reminds us that the only way we can achieve
this is by obeying the "teaching" or the gospel of Jesus Christ, and not by
hopeless efforts to do everything without error. Praise God for freeing us
from the slavery of Perfectionism.
Mike