Carpet Stains

One thing that irks me more than just about anything is when things don't work correctly. I rent from an older apartment complex with a lot of "character", that is, carpet stains, broken light fixtures, patched up walls, etc. There's something that doesn't sit right within me when things I own require constant cleaning and attention, and I hate feeling like perfection can never be attained. Like now, for instance, I'm typing on a broken keyboard with several keys missing from the board, which just rubs me the wrong way...
When I look at people and organizations, I find the same results. Broken people surround us; people in my own family, people at my church, (myself included) hurting one another's feelings, making bad decisions, and failing over and over again. It rubs against the grain, it leaves me feeling discouraged and even more frustrated than before. We can't deny that there is something in us that demands restoration to a former state of "rightness", something that craves justice in a world that hardly ever gives it.
The Apostle Paul had the right attitude when he said,
"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake i have lost all things . I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."
Philippians 3:7-9
He goes on in the following text to talk about pressing on toward the goal, even though we cannot ever be made perfect on this earth. People will continue to let us down, and material things will continue to break, but rather, let those things be a reminder that this world is not the goal. Let us be encouraged that there is a perfection, a wholeness, and a purity, which awaits the follower who has learned to focus his eyes heavenward, in a place where there are no carpet stains.