Person, or perfection?

I have always felt the burden of perfectionism. Not that I strive to be perfect. More that others in my life have expected that of me, or at least I perceive that they do.
One phrase Mr. P. is fond of is, "There's no perfect person on this earth...OK there's one and you ain't Him."
No kidding!
The one impression I have always had of Christianity is that its members were aiming for perfection under the banner of being Christ-like. I never really understood that until today.
I'm of a mind that not only God can but does choose to reveal His will to us as individuals. Above that, I believe that while His plan has a basic outline for us all written in the Bible, He also has more specific goals and plans for each of us as individuals. While I believe that, I admit that I have an incredibly difficult time believing that for myself. Like that applies to others but not me.
Earlier today, I was singing in the shower. Yeah, it's just my thing. I praise Him often there, simply because it's one of the few times I'm in a quiet spot, and my mind is often clear. God and I have some of our best conversations in the bathroom. ;)
While I was getting dressed, God showed me something I had never seen before in myself, and I think that He knew I'd have to have come to where I am now for it to sink in.
In my case, after the way I was raised and the things I've endured, being Christ-like means looking more to His person, and less at His perfection. What kind of person is Christ? What qualities does He exhibit? Who does He want me to be?
All these are found in the Word, and in prayer. And it's not that hard. Christ is perfection to be sure, but even more than that, He is a friend. No friend asks the impossible. No friend tells you to carry the load alone. Perhaps my ignorance of the faith shows clear, but for me, this is the essence of faith. If we cannot go before our Savior and trust in Him as we would our dearest friend, well, what then? If I cannot tell my Lord my heart in confidence, all hope is dashed.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not down playing His divinity or His rightful place on the Throne. But the Lord put this image on my heart today, of Christ praying not only for his friends, the disciples, but for us as well.
John 17
1After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
6"I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. 12While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. 13"I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
20"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25"Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."

If you note verse 20 to the end, He is praying for us. How beautiful! To know that my King once spoke this prayer for me, that I may see His glory. Nothing humbles me more, nothing makes me see the person of my friend and salvation than this simple prayer spoken so many years ago.
So now, starting today, I strive not for perfection, but for His person. May I be more Christ-like each day.

Til next squeak,