Finally, brothers, good-bye. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. 2nd Corinthians 13:11 (New International Version)
The word 'perfection' has always made me nervous and brought to mind many of my past failures. It’s a word I’ve always felt others expected of me but which I could never deliver. The majority of us were taught that being perfect means without mistake but the Greek word here (katartizō) means to complete thoroughly, repair or adjust. God’s idea of perfection is a lot different from the expectation of the world isn’t it?
For many years I lived under the falsehood that I couldn’t be a true servant of God and that He would not love me unless my life before Him was lived in flawless perfection. I stumbled along in my imperfection torturing myself thinking my acceptability to God was based on how good I acted. If I performed well enough one day I was happy but the next day when I didn’t I was depressed. Doing this has driven many folks into an insane lifestyle or into insanity itself. One day the truth of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans broke through to me when I understood the significance that Jesus died for me and you while we were still sinners (5:8). If He died for me while I was imperfect how much more would He accept me now clothed in His righteousness?
I’ve come to the conclusion that thinking I need to do everything without error to be significant before God is like chasing a rainbow. The idea sounds pretty good but no one I know has ever caught one. Neither has anyone ever needed to achieve perfection to be significant to God. Obsessing over it will only make us sick. There was only one perfect Person and all believers in Him are made perfect through Him. Perfection in God’s mind isn’t being without flaw but thoroughly completed and repaired on a daily basis through Christ’s work and Holy Spirit. Jesus reminds us that only the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are without blemish or error. The Deity of God takes our tarnished brass and shines it to burnished brightness. Restored and repaired daily through Christ. Now how perfect is that?
Ken
www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com
For many years I lived under the falsehood that I couldn’t be a true servant of God and that He would not love me unless my life before Him was lived in flawless perfection. I stumbled along in my imperfection torturing myself thinking my acceptability to God was based on how good I acted. If I performed well enough one day I was happy but the next day when I didn’t I was depressed. Doing this has driven many folks into an insane lifestyle or into insanity itself. One day the truth of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans broke through to me when I understood the significance that Jesus died for me and you while we were still sinners (5:8). If He died for me while I was imperfect how much more would He accept me now clothed in His righteousness?
I’ve come to the conclusion that thinking I need to do everything without error to be significant before God is like chasing a rainbow. The idea sounds pretty good but no one I know has ever caught one. Neither has anyone ever needed to achieve perfection to be significant to God. Obsessing over it will only make us sick. There was only one perfect Person and all believers in Him are made perfect through Him. Perfection in God’s mind isn’t being without flaw but thoroughly completed and repaired on a daily basis through Christ’s work and Holy Spirit. Jesus reminds us that only the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are without blemish or error. The Deity of God takes our tarnished brass and shines it to burnished brightness. Restored and repaired daily through Christ. Now how perfect is that?
Ken
www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com
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