We are back to questions about our perfectionistic tendencies.

Today and Monday, many of us struggle here and next time we're going to look at how perfectionism makes us indecisive in life decisions.

But first a question from a student when are good grades good enough? Here's the email,

Pastor John Hello to you and thank you for this podcast. I'm a female high school student in Minnesota, a senior taking five college classes, so technically a full-time college student as well.

This last year in my online classes, teachers would prohibit the use of textbooks during midterms and finals.

But my friends would use their books anyway.

I was tempted to cheat like this too, but I didn't.

I studied longer.

Had I cheated, I would have had more time to study my Bible and hang out with my family and attend church youth group events.

I know I can't cheat and honor God, but is overdoing my studies honoring to him either.

How important is to strive for A's if achieving them takes me away from more important things.

I'm wired to be a perfectionist, but perhaps it's wiser to settle for B's than for second best in school or in work to preserve

my time for other things that are equally or more important.

How do you weigh the pros and cons of excellence when settling for very good seems wiser.

When are B's wiser than A's?

When I saw this question earlier and had a chance to think about it even think whether I want to tackle answering it.

I spent a long time pondering, how do you give counsel not only to this kind of question, but to this kind of person?

And by that I mean, she said, I'm wired to be a perfectionist.

So we have a person, and she's of course not unusual.

We have a person with a perfectionist bent, wrestling with, you might say good grades versus good deeds that's one way to say it.

Almost everybody would agree that taking the time to save a person's life is more important

than getting an A, no question.

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