"How Can God Expect Me To Be Perfect?"

Have you ever read something in the Bible and thought, "That's impossible!" If so, you're not alone. Anyone who has spent time in God's Word has thought something like that. One verse that requires more thought and understanding is Matthew 5:48: "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (HCSB)

To help us understand what God expects of us, it helps to see examples in scripture. Two come to mind. The Bible says, "Noah was a just man, perfect in his generation. Noah walked with God." (Genesis 6:9) But we know that Noah sinned, yet God called him perfect. I Kings 15:14 speaks of Asa, whose "heart was perfect with the Lord all his days." Yet, the Bible says Asa acted foolishly and relied on the Syrians and not the Lord his God. (2 Chronicles 16:7) When I came to that realization, I wanted to learn more.

In Matthew, Jesus said to "be perfect." First, it is important to know He was talking to "kingdom citizens." These are people who have received the very Spirit of God. Second, the perfection of the Christian is a relative thing, starting where we are. It is a called to live the lifestyle of one who is "seeking to be" more and more like our Father. That is exactly what He longs for any of His children to do. And we can do that at this very moment. It is a choice. We can say, "I will pursue God and His ways from now on." It is based on our present state of maturity in Him. It is there that we start "to be perfect" before Him.

Now, that is an exciting thing for a child of God. The first thing we must do is accept God's call and give our life to it. Then in our pursuit of Him, we begin to understand. No more burden of trying to achieve the impossible. When we step out into such a journey, suddenly we find God at work in our lives. We are considered perfect as we pursue Him. When we do so, He makes us more and more like Himself. We can all be "perfect" like that.