There was a man who wanted to get a job in the music industry. His goal was to one day own his own recording studio. To get his foot in the door, the man accepted a job at a recording studio listening for defects in recordings.

As he began his job, he was taught to listen not to the music, but to the snaps, crackles, and pops that found their way onto the recordings. As time rolled on, he found himself doing the same job for years, never finding himself in a better job position.

A friend of the man came through his city and asked if they could meet for dinner, and they did. As they were catching up on life, the man shared about his job at the recording studio. His friend said, “Man, it must be so cool to listen to all that music every day.”

The young man looked at his friend and responded, “Music? I never hear music anymore, all I hear is the snap, crackle, and pop.”

The young man had trained his ear to only listen to the mistakes and defects, and as a result he missed the beautiful music.

Hello, my name is Barbara Benton, and I am a recovering perfectionist! I am not sure what caused perfectionism to become my roommate, but it did! I developed a keen insight into what is being done wrong, how it could be done better, and how to fix it. I hear the snap, crackle, pop.

There is a good side to being able to see things that need tweaking, but I fell into the snap, crackle, pop syndrome. If I went to speak at a conference, when I was finished, I was often tormented by what I should have said, what I did not say, what I could have said better. My mind would stay on that.

My husband was a pastor and when he would preach, sometimes I would see that his tie was not straight, that he badly mispronounced a word, or think of ways that he could say something better. And I was ready to go over the list with him!

One Sunday, I got home from church and was preparing lunch, but Gaylon was not home yet. I thought of the ways I could gently let him know the areas that needed to be improved. My phone rang, and after answering, I heard the voice of one of our congregation members. She choked up and said to me, “Please tell Pastor Benton that sermon spoke directly to my heart today. I knew it was for me. I was dealing with a heavy situation, and Pastor’s words brought breakthrough for me. Please tell him how grateful I am for his words today.”

Holy Spirit immediately dealt with me. This woman heard the music, but I heard the snap, crackle, pop. We each had tuned our ears in a certain way. She was listening for the good parts, and I was listening for the wrong parts.

Let me be firm in saying that I am not one of “those” Christians who think you never deal with the negative. Of course, there are negative things that are said and done that need reckoning.

I am not that girl anymore, thank God! How did I change it?

Let me say that it was a process that took some time. These things helped:

1. Repent of perfectionism requiring you and others to do everything exactly right. Right, according to you.
2. Change the mindset by renewing the mind. In my case, I began to pray for my husband’s messages, asking God to use him and let the Word of God find good ground.
3. I began to pray for myself, that I would teach God’s word effectively, and then leave it in His hands. It is He who works in the hearts of people.
4. I have apologized to my children over incidences that I remembered where I was harsh with them just because I wanted things a certain way. I need them to see that I recognize my error.
5. I began to speak life over myself. When the negative thoughts come, I cast them out immediately. I try not to stew over them.
6. I remind myself that many criticized the works of Jesus, rather than receiving the loving things He offered. I do not want to be the one who critiques everything, instead of receiving the good parts.
7. I asked God to help me get over being performance based and instead become obedient based. If I act according to what God’s word teaches, then I am not prone to serve God just to get His approval and acceptance. I am already accepted in the beloved.
8. Be grace filled. The word of hope in the Bible for the perfectionist is grace. God gives us grace, and we must become grace givers to others.

I could continue listing reasons because it is a process, a process that I still must be aware of when my perfectionism raises its ugly head.

This I know – I want to walk through life hearing the music of heaven, and not the snap, crackle, and pop of earth. Let go of perfectionism.

“But he said to me, `My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9).