“But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48
Jesus said in Matthew 5:48 “But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” So, what in the world was Jesus saying there? He wants us to be perfect? Yeah, no chance of that here.
Remember those math equations that plotted curves that come close to the graph axis but never touch it? Yeah, I didn’t either, but there are some equations whose points plot a curve that comes ever closer to an axis without touching it. That might be just like us. We get closer to perfection, and that is the goal, but we never reach it. We will not see perfection in this life on earth.
I think the idea here is that we are not to be perfect, but we are to be on the road to perfection. In other words, we have choices to make. We can decide which roads we will take in life. No matter what road we choose, we will not execute it perfectly. However, the key is choosing the right roads.
The roads we need to take are those that are not the easy roads- the ones which do not challenge us to be the best we can be. The roads we must take are the hard roads which challenge us to make choices larger than ourselves. Those are the roads that are of benefit to others whom we love. Because we have decided that following Jesus is about sacrificing so that others may have access to some of the benefits we have enjoyed, we have then followed Jesus.
Keeping blessings to ourselves is a road we can take, but it will not lead us to the place of perfection that God has intended for us. There cannot be love without sacrifice. It costs something to love others. To the extent that we take roads that lead us toward the way of sharing blessings and helping others to find that road- that is the road to perfection.
Don’t despair, you are not perfect. But make sure to choose the right roads, and you will be heading in the direction God has called “perfect”.
Prayer: Lord, help us to see the roads you would have us follow, Amen
Reflections of a Counselor 