In his book, The Infinite Atonement, Tad R. Callister shares the following analogy from C.S. Lewis regarding the pursuit of absolute perfection.
C.S. Lewis exposed the one obstacle to "absolute perfection" and godhood--ourselves. He teaches the principle by way of a childhood experience. He recalls his repeated toothaches and his desire for relief--but likewise the nagging fear that if he disclosed his pain, his mother would take him to the dentist. He said, "I knew those dentists; I knew they started fiddling about with all sorts of other teeth which had not yet begun to ache...[I]f you gave them an inch, they took an ell." Then he made his comparison: "Our Lord is like the dentists....Dozens of people go to Him to be cured of some one particular sin which they are ashamed of....Well, He will cure it all right: but He will not stop there. That may be all you asked; but if you once call Him in, He will give you the full treatment.
"...'Make no mistake,' He says, 'if you let Me, I will make you perfect. The moment you put yourself in My hands, that is what you are in for. Nothing less, or other, than that. You have free will, and if you choose, you can push Me away. But if you do not push Me away, understand that I am going to see this job through. Whatever suffering it may cost you in your earthly life, whatever inconceivable purification it may cost you after death, whatever it costs Me, I will never rest, nor let you rest, until you are literally perfect--until my Father can say without reservation that He is well pleased with you, as He said he was well pleased with Me. This I can do and will do. But I will not do anything less.'
"...You must realize from the outset that the goal toward which He is beginning to guide you is absolute perfection; and no power in the whole universe, except you yourself, can prevent Him from taking you to that goal. That is what you are in for. And it is very important to realize that."
- Lewis, Joyful Christian, 77-78
