Have you noticed the world is filled with brokenness, fragility, error and guilt coupled with the inherent recognition of imperfection? Wait…what is perfection?
Matthew 5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Ok, so I have a confession to make… I’m not perfect. Yet, at the same time I am told to be, “Perfect”. Behold we have an advantage in our own broken humanity in a fallen world since we are aware of the ONLY perfect human…Jesus.
Markedly, In Matthew 5:48, Jesus had just finished talking about murder, divorce, adultery and loving your enemies. In each case He had set the bar or standard higher than it had been before. What was the point of all that? To show us how morally bankrupt we are. The point of the law is for us to see that God’s righteous perfection is impossible for us to attain. I will say it one more time, “God tells us to be perfect and at the same time it is impossible”. But, wait Jesus tells us in Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” And that’s the whole point. With man it is impossible but with God we can have victory.
The law was made to point us to the Savior, for in Jesus alone can we find perfection. We are to live our lives in the power of the Holy Spirit, only then can we ever be what we were called to be. We have been chosen by God to become something new. Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Never forget that God chose us and then called us to be perfect, but He did not stop there. He then provided the way for us to be all that He has called us to be. If you find yourself struggling in this area, perhaps it is because you are trying in your own human (sinful flesh). Recognize that’s not the answer, since, the harder we try the harder we will fail. With each failure comes, frustration until we come to a point that we feel like giving up. But giving up is not the answer either… giving in is the answer.
We must give into Christ. What do I mean by this? I mean that we must stop trying in our own power and admit that we cannot do it, then we must confess that only with Christ can we ever become the perfect children of God that we are called to be. To add, if we find ourselves looking at our own pain and suffering, then we must put ourselves next to Christ. Are we accomplishing what Christ did? Which is doing the Father’s will and filling ourselves with a life as Jesus did by giving to the world. If we find ourselves opposite of His then our life will continue to be intertwined with imperfection, dread, and disappointment. He came to fix what was wrong in a world… His brokenness was at our own hands nonetheless, through Him, He came to exemplify all that is right and perfect.
Anchor In The Storm 