Who Says You Can't Be Perfect?

Book excerpt: "Sometimes we don’t believe we can do what God tells us to do or be what God commands us to be simply because we don’t understand what He wants. That’s what happens for many Christians when they hear that famous command, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Right away we fall back to our personal human interpretation and decide that “perfect” isn’t really what Jesus meant, because “perfect” represents to us a level and a quality that is way beyond our reach. Then we start feeling guilty about not being able to hit the mark, so we start lowering the target. Now, it’s not perfection God wants but “maturity.” That’s how we fi x it up. Jesus didn’t really mean for us to be perfect; He meant for us to be mature. Maturity is a process, a time line along which a person travels to reach a certain condition or state. That’s not what perfection in God is. It’s not a process; it’s a decision. If we make the decision to be perfect as God has commanded, will He not make it possible for us to do that? When has God ever commanded us to do something or be something and not made the way for us to do that and be that? Has He not given the tools and the ministries to help us do that? Do we not have the presence of God, the leadership, teaching, and example of Jesus, the guidance of His Word, and the power of the Holy Spirit to do what God the Father through Jesus has commanded us to do? If God has given us all that and made it possible for us to honor His command and be perfect as He is perfect, who is qualifi ed to say we can’t do it?"