The Mandate for Perfection

As Christians, one of the things that we need to embrace is the call to perfection. As born-again believers in Christ, God has called all of His children to be perfect (Matthew 5). This is not something that is regularly promoted in the church, but it is emphasized in the Word.

I believe that the reason why a lot of Christians don't strive for perfection is because of the misunderstanding of what perfection is. Perfection is not being sinless. Jesus died for all of our sins, so it's not about that. Perfection is also not about "doing everything right." People think that being perfect means "doing nothing wrong." This is incorrect.

Perfection is about one's state of maturity. Being complete, whole, mature. This is what it means to be perfect in Christ Jesus. If you have a five-year-old child, you don't expect him to act like he's 5 months old. If you have a 10 year old, you don't expect him to act like he's 5. If you have a 15 year old, you don't expect him to act like he's 10. And if you have a 25 year old, you don't expect him to act like he's 15. Why? Because you expect them to act their age based upon the level of maturity that should be achieved at that stage of their development. Our Heavenly Father is the same way. He expects His children to develop into full maturity in Christ – perfection (Ephesians 4).

So, how do we embrace the mandate for perfection? First off, it's a decision. The Holy Spirit is faithful in letting us know the areas for which we need to grow. It could be spiritual, it could be psychological or it could be physical. Remember, God wants His children to be Holy (1Thessalonians 5). So, perfection is not restricted to just the spiritual dimension of our lives, it applies to every area of our lives.

When the Spirit allows these areas to be identified and exposed, we are then responsible to address these areas and ask God for the sufficient grace to rectify these areas and make the necessary adjustments so that we can be in alignment with His Divine Will for our lives. Without this type of commitment, you will not reach perfection in Christ.

The next thing we need to understand in regards to the mandate for perfection is that perfection is not a standard of behavior, it's a state of being. So many times when we think about perfection, we think about it in the context of the "do's and don'ts." Once again, this is incorrect. Jesus says in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew, "be ye perfect, even as you Father in Heaven is perfect". Perfection is a state of being.

So, in embracing the mandate for perfection, it's not about your conduct, it's about your character. It's not about your actions, it's about your attitude. Now you may ask, aren't the two connected? They most certainly are. But as we established earlier, we're going to make mistakes. We're going to fall down in certain areas.

God has Grace and Mercy for our weaknesses. But even your attitude in regards to your sins can be perfect. But if your attitude and spirit aren't perfect before God, you can best believe, your behavior won't be either. It's time, Saints, for us to surrender and submit to the mandate for perfection.