RELIGIONBe perfect as your Father is!
Be perfect, as your Father is. This is the theme for our article this week. Yes – be perfect as your Father is – that is God's admonition. In Lev. 19:2 God also commands that we be holy because He our God is holy - “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: 'Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. In effect God is calling us to be like Him – to have His standard of perfection, nothing less. Alas, many of us question God about His command to us to be like Him practicing His utterly high moral standards and wonder how we, mere mortals, are going to be able to attain:
I. perfection in thought; II. perfection in attitude; III. perfection in relationships; IV. perfection in our actions.
The mere thought of it often makes us despondent because it becomes starkly clear that we cannot be perfect in our human state. Those of us who hold on to high moral principles realize that the pursuit of these principles in our own human strength makes us cold, rigid, critical and sometimes unloving and insensitive to those who are unable to keep such standards. To many people those who hold such high standards are moral high towers peering down with disdain upon lesser mortals who are a bundle of moral roller-coasters unable to hold to high principles of morality.
Actually during Jesus time, that is exactly what the Pharisees had become. They held on firmly to the letter of God's commandments. It made them hard and unyielding because they sought to live out God's law in their own strength, forgetting that God had raised them up so that they could be reflections of His nature and character of love. In much the same way, we will fail if we choose to live our Christian lives in our own strength. But that is not the will of God for us. He has given us His commands and indeed He requires our obedience. But He requires obedience that rises from a transformed life because of our union with Christ Jesus.
The life Jesus addresses command to be perfect is the life that has accepted Him as Savior's and Lord and is therefore, enjoying the righteousness that has been imputed to Him as we read in 2 Cor. 5:21 – “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” This new life has love as its very foundation. It is the love of God, freely given by Him. So in effect, Jesus is telling us in Matt. 5:43-48 – “You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” to demonstrate the love He has planted in us by doing the same things that He does. God does not give His providence and provision to only those who love and obey – He shows love to all by sending them sun and rain – the two most important elements for life.
We too are called to be channels of God's love by loving all. Such love demonstrates that we are the disciples of Jesus – John 13:34-35. What are some of the practical ways we can do this? Hebrews 13:15-16 – “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased”, teaches us that, we should continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruits of life that confess His name and also remember to do good and to share with others because God is pleased with such small sacrifices. Permit me to offer practical ways we can do this as enumerated in Hebrews 13:1-8.
1. Brotherly love – the spirit of Christianity is a spirit of love and we should therefore seek to always live in love. As our devotion to God grows so must we grow in love towards one another. Let us do away with bickering, rancour, slander and backbiting –vs. 1
2. Hospitality – we must be very charitable to one another through the practice of hospitality. God often relates to us through ordinary human beings – they may be the angels He is sending to minister to us as we minister to them. God often bestows honours and favors to His hospitable children – vs. 2
3. Christian empathy – ministering to the vulnerable including even prisoners. This is often difficult for us but we must ask God for help to show compassion to the vulnerable. That is one of the ways to bear each others burden – vs. 3
4. Purity and charity – these are not virtues that are very popular these days, but that is exactly what God calls us to. God is Holy and pure – there is no shadow of impurity in Him. This is a call particularly to the married – there should be no adultery whether physical or emotional. Yes, there's a lot of emotional unchastity going on, for example we look lustfully at others and sometimes even flight with them on the phone etc. even though we are married. That is emotional adultery – vs. 4
5. Christian contentment – we must be content with what we have knowing that God is able to provide all our needs. When we become materialistic, what we are implying is that, God is unable to take care of us. This type of insecurity often leads to the love of money whether we are rich or poor. The only antidote is to trust God to meet all of our needs.