Most of us love excellence and striving for perfection. We want our surgeon to be the best in the country. We want our professors to be at the top of their field. We want Olympic athletes to set new world records. We want to look as good as possible, aided by makeup, dyes, whitening agents, exercise, and beauty filters. We want our homes spotless and organized.

We are also surrounded by people and institutions that reinforce this culture of excellence. These voices tell us to get another degree, climb the next rung on the corporate ladder, add another bullet to your résumé. Success is everything; failure is not an option.

An unexpected battle cry in our modern world has become, “Do better!” Better technology to improve our lives. More institutional accountability and corporate responsibility. A relentless pursuit of self-improvement. Excellence, success, and constant progress have become the holy trinity of high achievers.

But what happens when we don’t measure up? What if I flat-out fail? What if I disappoint myself and fall short of even adequate? What then?

Perfectly Impossible

We might begin by remembering that, as sinners by nature, we are all well acquainted with failure.

While God commands, “Be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45), we fall short of his glory (Romans 3:23). We don’t measure up. We don’t naturally obey or do his will. We cannot grit our teeth to get it all right. We don’t overcome sin with sheer willpower and determination. We are not perfect. We need grace.

Our imperfection reminds us of our need for Christ’s perfection. We need his righteousness on our behalf (2 Corinthians 5:21). Outside of him, falling short is who we are and what we do. We cannot in our strength please God (Hebrews 11:6). Our imperfections preach that we need God.

Disappointment is an undeniable aspect of life in our fallen world. We plant gardens that get devoured by disease, bugs, rodents, and deer. Or we tackle work projects that end in spectacular failure. Or we memorize, rehearse, and study only to fail. We disappoint ourselves and others. We don’t measure up to our own standards. This is life in a fallen world. And it should remind us that we are not God; he is. Even when failure comes through no fault of our own, it can remind us that we are sinners, and we fall short. He alone is perfect, and we need his grace.

Alongside this fundamental reminder, however, God has more to teach us when we don’t measure up. Consider some other lessons we can learn from failure.

1. God shows his power through our weakness.

The apostle Paul was caught up to the third heaven and beheld unspeakable glories, yet God gave him a thorn to keep him from becoming arrogant (2 Corinthians 12:2–4, 7). This was no mere bout of sleeplessness or minor back pain, but rather a torturous thorn — a messenger of Satan that harassed and harangued. This pain pierced as if from the pit of hell.

Yet the thorn was from God to accomplish his good purpose in Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). God makes his people weak to display his strength and power. We are allergic to failure and weakness. We beg God to make us strong. We ask him to renew our strength so we might run and not be weary (Isaiah 40:31). Yet God may answer such a prayer by revealing our weaknesses and limitations. Paul’s thorn displayed God’s all-surpassing greatness in a way Paul’s strength otherwise couldn’t do.

So, don’t resent imperfection, failure, and weakness. God may be displaying his grace and goodness to you in those moments. Our limits teach us the difficult lesson of humble dependency.

2. God uses different measures of success.

God does not measure success as the world does: large bank accounts, plush accommodations, plaques, trophies, accolades, or degrees. Jesus warns against gaining the whole world — riches, pleasure, comfort, fame, and success — and yet forfeiting one’s soul in the process (Matthew 16:26). Losing one’s life for the sake of Christ’s name will reap infinite rewards. Earthly success is not the plumb line that God employs.

Instead, Jesus tells his good and faithful servants, “I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21). God measures success according to faithfulness: “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much” (Luke 16:10).

“Our imperfection reminds us of our need for Christ’s perfection.”

Do we strive for success as defined by God? Are we seeking to be faithful with all that he has entrusted to us — time, talents, and treasure? Or have we adopted the lying weights and measures of our world? Will our labors result in hearing the words “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23)?

Put aside striving for the world’s facade of perfection.

3. God’s grace makes us what we are.

In Christ, we are not defined by our success or failure. Our worth is not in what we own. Our reputation, résumé, or retirement accounts do not determine our value. We are what we are by God’s grace.

Paul writes, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10). Which is it, Paul? Did you work hard, or was it by grace? Paul’s answer is yes, both. He labored, yet he did so by grace. We too are to strive, labor, and work — knowing that it is God who works in us both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:12–13).

We are not defined by success or failure. We are defined by God and his grace at work in us. This grace strengthens and empowers us to work hard, even as it reminds us that success comes only from God. So we work, but our hope is not in our abilities. We live and labor by God’s grace at work in us.

4. God’s Spirit inspires good work.

Though we cannot be perfect, we are not designed or resigned to mediocrity. Don’t settle for poor workmanship. Don’t aim to be below average. Don’t produce what is barely passable. When the tabernacle was to be built, God told Moses that he filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God, “with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft” (Exodus 31:3–5). God’s Spirit prepared the finest craftsman to construct his earthy dwelling place.

Similarly, God equips his Spirit-filled children to build, create, and undertake great works. God gives these skills not to elicit earthly accolades but to reveal the beauty of the one who made all. He is the chief architect who calls us to mimic him in taking dominion over this great world.

Fine work is ultimately for God. In Colossians, Paul reminds servants that their labor is “for the Lord and not for men. . . . You are serving the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23–24). We set aside the lie of perfection, and we also refuse the lie of mediocrity. Rather, we work heartily — with all our might, skill, and craft — to please Jesus.

Imperfectly Perfect

God does not need our perfection. Such striving undermines his grace and reinforces our self-sufficiency. Instead, God receives the humble, whom he will exalt at the appropriate time (James 4:10; 1 Peter 5:6). In our failures, we trust that God will fulfill his purposes for us according to his steadfast love (Psalm 138:8). Though we are not perfect, we have a perfect Savior who invites us to receive his perfect work on our behalf. He gives his empowering Spirit to enable us to labor in the strength he provides for his glory. We labor not for the praise of man or the markers of earthly success. Instead, we labor for Christ, producing what is beautiful for his honor.

So, when we disappoint ourselves — yet again — we happily preach to our souls that we are hidden in the perfection of Christ. As Spirit-endowed children, we labor with all our might, skill, and knowledge to make much of Christ in whatever is before us. We rest in being imperfect, loved, covered in Christ’s blood, and empowered to glorify God in all of life.