It may be the ultimate lame excuse or rationalization: Nobody is perfect, so stop challenging me for what I’ve done or haven’t done. End of discussion!

But is it true that we’re all imperfect?

There seems to be some human logic to the statement. We may feel painfully aware of our weaknesses and past mistakes, or those of others. And we’re taught that nothing lasts forever, not even galaxies – as if to say that we live in a universe of imperfection.

And yet we have mathematical formulas that are timelessly and universally unchanging, pointing to the fact that ideas can be perfect, pure, and immortal. And that’s one way that the teachings of Christian Science describe what we are as children of God: We are ideas of the divine Mind that is God.

Christian Science differentiates between the perfect and imperfect, as the real and the unreal. There are two opposite creation stories in Genesis, which help us understand this distinction. In chapter one, God created man in His image and likeness. But the following chapter describes the first man, Adam, as made of dust, and the first woman, Eve, as made from the man’s rib.

God’s creation, man, inclusive of every individual, is the perfect idea of the divine Mind, complete, harmonious, and eternal; the Adam man is imperfect and mortal. Which story and heritage we claim as our own determines our sense of ability and well-being. But only one account can be true.

Man, as defined in Christian Science, is “God’s spiritual idea, individual, perfect, eternal” (Mary Baker Eddy, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 115). Christian Science insists that the true man is immortal and perfect because God is immortal and perfect, and we are each God’s offspring, God’s child, God’s idea. How could a perfect God create an imperfect man?

As God’s ideas, we are simply incapable of imperfection since God, the all-wise and all-powerful creator, is incapable of making a mistake. Qualitatively, we always have been, and forever will be, as perfect as God – not sort of perfect, not even mostly perfect, but totally, irreversibly perfect all the time. The Bible backs that up when it says that “thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God” (Deuteronomy 18:13).

And we can prove these truths in practical ways on a daily basis. Christ Jesus instructed us, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). And Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, wrote, “We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives” (Science and Health, p. 248).

Mentally and persistently insisting on our God-given perfection enables us to recognize and reject thoughts that are not harmonious because not from God. Perfect thoughts are spiritual. They reflect goodness and harmony. Imperfect, limiting thoughts project dark shadows of inharmony.

And there’s an extraordinary reason to keep perfect models in thought: They heal, as Jesus proved by the many marvelous healings brought about by his seeing others as spiritual and perfect expressions of God. As God’s children, we can see ourselves and others in this Christlike way too.

I benefited from the realization of divine perfection recently on a sightseeing trip to Peru, which included visiting the Inca ruins at Machu Picchu, an impressive 7,710 feet above sea level. Before viewing the ruins, our tour guide took us to areas at 16,000 feet in far southeastern Peru. At that altitude, it seemed I couldn’t take 20 steps without heavy breathing and frequent rest.

But my normal abilities quickly returned as I reminded myself about my perfection as an idea of God – a spiritual idea that couldn’t be exhausted or limited in any way, certainly not by physical altitude. By continually keeping that perfect model in thought and rejecting the imperfect model of a mortal being, I was able to let go of any sense of limitation and rejoice in the freedom to explore the heights of Peru on foot.

So instead of resting on the false idea that we are imperfect mortals, we can embrace and express our rightful, God-given perfection and strength as divine ideas. We can rejoice that, “Hey! Everyone’s perfect!”