Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect Matthew 5:48
I think there is a tendency in all of us to be “either or”- that is, to see life as black or white, right or wrong etc. I think like all things in life, we are on a sort of continuum. We are on a path. We aren’t there yet, that is, we are not yet where we want to be in our goals, but we are on the path. Jesus said “Be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect”. What could he mean by that? None of us are remotely close to perfect.
What I believe that he meant is that we are to be on the “perfect path”. We are to follow him. We are on the path of going from selfish to selfless. Are we there yet? Nope. Not until we are perfected in heaven. Yet we are called to be on that path.
I tell my clients that the path to redemption is being on the road from selfish to selfless. To the extent that we do more acts that are more selfless than selfish, we are healthier and happier. People in recovery are well aware that working the 12th Step, the “service step” is the way to maintain sober living. We all need to be working the “serving others” step over the “serving self” lifestyle.
We are in the process of redemption. We are not completed projects, but we are a work in progress. Jesus wants us to be on the path of redemption, not yet perfect, but on the right road.
Prayer: Thank you Lord for the plan to perfection, which is following Jesus, Amen
Reflections of a Counselor 