Today I was reading from a manual that included the following:
“The term perfect was translated from the Greek teleios, which means ‘complete.’… The infinitive form of the verb is teleiono, which means ‘to reach a distant end, to be fully developed, to consummate, or to finish.’ Please note that the word does not imply ‘freedom from error’; it implies ‘achieving a distant objective.”
I know I’ve written about the word ‘perfect’ recently. It’s something constantly on my mind as I’m always trying to be it, and I hope that there are others out there that can benefit from conversing and understanding it more.
When I first read the short excerpt above, my mind seemed to explode (the good kind of explosion, of course). “Complete” is the end of everything, as the definition of teleiono suggests, which makes sense. No more can be added. It’s final. It’s done. How boring would it be to live a life of nothingness because you’ve already done everything you possibly can? I’m one who loves to check off my to-do list. Most of the time, I can’t relax or do what I “want” until everything I need to do is done. When I reach the point where I am caught up on my things to do, it can be nice at first but it eventually gets boring and I can get to feel kind of bleh (I kind of enjoy getting things done as it makes me feel accomplished).
Not only is perfect being complete, but there is also the part that talks about perfect not being freedom from error. If you’re anything like me, that was your definition of perfect before reading this. I don’t know how many times I’ve been so hard and hated on myself for messing something up or for not being as good as I could have been. No one deserves that.
With the new definition of perfect now in our minds, that it implies ‘achieving a distant objective’ and is complete, do you think we ever can reach perfection? Or is it more of something we strive for but won’t necessarily reach? Do you have your own take on what this word means for you, and if so, what is it? I’m interested to hear your thoughts!
Share Your Thoughts