Perfection

"Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48, NRSV)

If there is one thing about my life that is painfully obvious it is that I am not perfect.

Just ask my wife.

Yes, my name is Chris and I am imperfect.

This passage from Matthew's Gospel has always bugged me for the simple reason that I cannot live up to it. None of us can. Even the best people, great Saints of God are shown to be imperfect. Saint (Mother) Teresa revealed her doubts about God in her dairies. St. Francis was impulsive and would go about naked. So if even the saints can't reach this perfection, why does Jesus give us such an impossible task? It's enough to make the best person, the most faithful person, simply want to give up.

But maybe it's not about being perfect after all.

Maybe its all about striving for perfection.

There are times that I think I will never change. That all my efforts are in vain. But then, somewhere down the road, I notice something, a slight difference in my behavior, in my thought process. I recognize that ever so slightly, I have been changing for the better. Sometimes is because of my own efforts, but mostly it's from the work of God in me.

The point, I believe, in Jesus' command here is simple...to put ourselves fully, wholly into the hands of God and let the perfection come when it will. It may mean sacrificing our desires, biting our tongues, altering our habits, changing our destinations in order to meet the demands of faith. It's not that we have to be perfect, but that we strive for it.

For it is in that effort that we find a deeper connection with a perfect and holy God.

Peace ><>
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