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Confessions of a Toxic Perfectionist and God's Antidote
A strong commitment to excellence, and doing things right in any realm is admirable. But when it develops to a toxic hidden streak as perfectionism under the pretext of perfect Christian life it can be murderous. Dr. George Verwer brings out in this book examples from his life and mission of over 65 years. There is a strong biblical basis for what is shared here, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23) which he paraphrases, all are toxic and fallen short of the glory of God. Billy Graham had rightly said, "The greatest obstacle to our sanctification or godly life is our inability to see ourselves as we really are."
107 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 9, 2021
I have great admiration for George Verwer, as a humble man of faith with tremendous courage and initiative as well as dynamic evangelistic, motivational and leadership qualities. My experiences on short-term stints with Operation Mobilization, though hugely challenging, proved spiritually enriching and I know several long-term OMers, whom I love and highly respect. As an organisation, OM does magnificent work in spreading the Good News of Jesus, while also serving practical, medical and educational needs in many countries.
As something of a perfectionist myself – of which I was proud until I discovered not everyone shared that opinion! – I was very interested to read this new book.
While Verwer here applauds all striving for perfection in everything we undertake, he warns that this can easily degenerate into an arrogant, legalistic, judgemental perfectionism. So he urges us to recognise our weaknesses (‘toxicity’), which may sorely hurt others, and to be gracious and forgiving toward other Christians, especially leaders, who are also not perfect. This book is thus a plea to exercise grace in all we do and to apply God’s antidote for toxic perfectionism, which, he says, is “a personal relationship with Christ moment by moment”.
Chapter by chapter, we become acutely aware of the passion and earnestness of Verwer’s concern and, as such, the book inspires us to take this matter very seriously and make deep-seated personal decisions about how we behave, especially in our relationships with other believers. However, in all honesty, I have to say the book is not well written. The author repeats himself repeatedly and gets sidetracked into personal anecdotes or recommendations for other books, which tend rather to distract the reader than to strengthen the message.
Dear George: Keep up your prayer and preaching ministry but leave the book-writing to more talented people!
As something of a perfectionist myself – of which I was proud until I discovered not everyone shared that opinion! – I was very interested to read this new book.
While Verwer here applauds all striving for perfection in everything we undertake, he warns that this can easily degenerate into an arrogant, legalistic, judgemental perfectionism. So he urges us to recognise our weaknesses (‘toxicity’), which may sorely hurt others, and to be gracious and forgiving toward other Christians, especially leaders, who are also not perfect. This book is thus a plea to exercise grace in all we do and to apply God’s antidote for toxic perfectionism, which, he says, is “a personal relationship with Christ moment by moment”.
Chapter by chapter, we become acutely aware of the passion and earnestness of Verwer’s concern and, as such, the book inspires us to take this matter very seriously and make deep-seated personal decisions about how we behave, especially in our relationships with other believers. However, in all honesty, I have to say the book is not well written. The author repeats himself repeatedly and gets sidetracked into personal anecdotes or recommendations for other books, which tend rather to distract the reader than to strengthen the message.
Dear George: Keep up your prayer and preaching ministry but leave the book-writing to more talented people!
December 31, 2020
This little book is typical George Verwer - simple to read, straight from the heart, honest and pulls no punches. As a person who struggles with perfectionism, it was relevant and helpful. What a relief that God gives us an antidote - confession, repentance and forgiveness. I applaud George for staying active and getting this message out there (he wrote it in his 80s).
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews