"Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. " Matthew 5:48
Perfect?
Perfect like God?
You've got to be kidding me!
Do you struggle with trying to be perfect? Constantly measuring your behavior or performance against some impossible standard? For someone who has a tendency toward perfectionism, this can be a daunting command, for what more impossible standard to attain could there be than to be perfect just as our heavenly Father is perfect?
Fortunately, for us, there is hope.
"For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy". Hebrews 10:14
You see, as believers, we have already been made perfect in our hearts by the sacrifice Christ made for us on the cross but, we continue to be "being made holy" (perfect) as we grow in our relationship with Him.
Our hearts are perfect in God's sighs, but our behavior, our character, our attitudes need work. They are "being made holy" - not by us, but by God, Himself.
Philippians 1:6 assures us that God is working on us and that He will continue working on us until the day He takes us home to be with Christ Jesus...
"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6
That should be a comfort to those of us who judge ourselves so harshly, expecting perfection.
So, if it's God's job to perfect us...what's our job?
Obedience. As He points to things in our lives He wants to change, we must cooperate with Him through obedience and when we do, we have come one step closer to being perfect, just as He is perfect.
Just one step at a time.
Now, doesn't that take some of the pressure off?
--------------------------------------------------------
(Copyright© 2012 Jan Christiansen. All rights reserved.)
Perfect?
Perfect like God?
You've got to be kidding me!
Do you struggle with trying to be perfect? Constantly measuring your behavior or performance against some impossible standard? For someone who has a tendency toward perfectionism, this can be a daunting command, for what more impossible standard to attain could there be than to be perfect just as our heavenly Father is perfect?
Fortunately, for us, there is hope.
"For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy". Hebrews 10:14
You see, as believers, we have already been made perfect in our hearts by the sacrifice Christ made for us on the cross but, we continue to be "being made holy" (perfect) as we grow in our relationship with Him.
Our hearts are perfect in God's sighs, but our behavior, our character, our attitudes need work. They are "being made holy" - not by us, but by God, Himself.
Philippians 1:6 assures us that God is working on us and that He will continue working on us until the day He takes us home to be with Christ Jesus...
"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6
That should be a comfort to those of us who judge ourselves so harshly, expecting perfection.
So, if it's God's job to perfect us...what's our job?
Obedience. As He points to things in our lives He wants to change, we must cooperate with Him through obedience and when we do, we have come one step closer to being perfect, just as He is perfect.
Just one step at a time.
Now, doesn't that take some of the pressure off?
--------------------------------------------------------
(Copyright© 2012 Jan Christiansen. All rights reserved.)
