I am Perfect!

God says that we're perfect now.

I don't understand that.

I mean, yes, mistakes and flaws are not who we are; things that come out of us when we get bumped are who we are not - those are the impurities getting refined out of us, like silver. our true selves are perfect, in Daddy's likeness, and we are dying to sin and those things.
So technically, we're already perfect and our sinful nature is just masking us.

But... If we're already perfect, why is there so much room for improvement? If God just created me exactly as He wanted me, even without that sin nature, why do I have so much to learn? So much to work on? So very, very far to go?
Probably, for the same reason that babies don't come out of the womb walking, talking, and feeding themselves. Because He enjoys the process. He enjoys watching them learn, soak up life, and because He designed it so they have to completely depend on others for a season.

So there isn't anything "wrong" with babies when they can't do anything for themselves. In fact, I'd say there was something wrong if they could do all those things right away.
On the contrary, babies, children, people in general, come to think of it, are probably exactly where they're supposed to be, at each stage in life. Because, again, Daddy enjoys the process. He loves watching and helping you grow throughout your lifetime. Maybe He doesn't have as much fun with products (if such a thing does exist), because He just so enjoys showing you new things! Because I do know this: God is a God who loves and desired to be sought after.
Jeremiah 29:13 - You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all of your heart.

For a long time, I thought we would be finished products in Heaven. I would have said, on this subject, that we keep growing and improving until we get to Heaven, where we're finished and know everything. But then I thought, why about those people who are constantly going back to school because they just love to learn? Wouldn't continual learning in Heaven just be their heart's desire? And God is so vast, so complex, that we could never know everything about Him, even after an eternity! How could we be finished, even after getting into Heaven?

So maybe we're never finished. Maybe we'll always be growing and improving, even after we go to live with Daddy.
But we are already perfect now, because we are exactly where we are meant to be. We will never be finished, but when we get to Heaven we will be complete, in the sense that we will be unafflicted by a sinful nature. We will be whole, and completely ourselves.
Philippians 1:6 -  And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

The Kingdom of God goes from glory to Glory. Not from forward to backward, or progress to stagnation. But it keeps getting better and better, in the sense that a cookie tasted so good, so perfect, that you didn't think it could get any better - until they changed one little thing, add an ingredient here or there - and it gets even more amazing!
In Heaven, there is no plateau of goodness; no place where the process or learning stops. It just keeps getting better.

Yet still, no matter what you think, you are still already perfect where you are.

I need to remind myself of this countless times, all the time. Sometimes, you'll still mess up. But that's okay. You're still perfect. Perfection doesn't mean completely full of experience and wisdom. You gain that with time. That's the process. And isn't it wonderful? You can only improve from here!

So remember...

You are perfect now. Someday, you will be complete, be whole. But you will never be finished.