Matthew 5:48
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.
There is a lot of pressure to have it all together. From your weight, to your home interior. From the way you parent, to the success you have at work. Sometimes it feels like we are being told to strive for perfection. You'd think one place where you could go to get away from that would be the Bible.
Alas, we read Matthew 5:48. Now we have to not only be perfect but perfect like God? How?
Don't fret. It's actually really good news. The word perfect in this verse was derived from the Greek term "teleios" which defines something as being complete, something which is "whole," "fully grown," "final." So if you do the things Jesus is instructing in the verses leading up to 48 you will be mature in your faith, living the intended life, complete.
But what exactly does he tell us to do?
Love. Love people well. Love the people others wouldn't expect us to love. Love when it would be more convenient to hate. That's how you win others for Christ and that's how you become perfect. Let's start on that path to perfection today.
