Matthew 5:48

Matthew 5:48

Thoughts from Allie Gardner

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“Therefore, you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Matthew 5:48

FOF- Behind the Scenes
Slide

I don’t know about you, but I read a verse like this and immediately something sets off like dissonance in my soul. Wait a minute... I have to be perfect? I thought the point was that I couldn’t be perfect. That’s why I need a Savior. Now, I’m all kinds of confused and a bit worried because I know I can’t be perfect. So, is Jesus in this passage asking us to do something we can’t do? Is He setting us up for failure?

Slide

This is where understanding the text becomes so, so, so important or we can misread a verse like this. We can easily build a system of theology on a misunderstanding. So, let’s dig in and see what this verse really means. When we look at the original Greek word for “perfect” we learn that it is the word teleios, which means “brought to its end, finished; wanting nothing necessary for completeness”.

Slide

So, we see here that the statement Jesus is making is that we would be full and complete, lacking nothing. He isn’t telling us to be perfect on our own or that we are responsible for this perfection. If we read this verse in context, Jesus has just been calling us to a new way of living. The verses previously include ideas like turning the other cheek, giving your cloak to someone who asks for just a shirt, walking the extra mile, loving your enemies, and so on. Jesus has been pointing out how a follower is to act in difficult circumstances.

Slide

I love that James continues this idea in his letter to the Hebrew people. In James 1:2-4 he tells us, “Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Again, here is the idea of being perfect, lacking nothing. And how does it come about? By enduring trials with perseverance and joy. Sounds a lot like what Jesus was teaching, right?

Slide

But why? And how does this relate to the person of God? If we bounce back to our verse today, Jesus tells us why we are to be “perfect” (lacking nothing)- because it reflects the person of God! He is perfect, lacking nothing required to be complete. And when we choose to walk through difficult circumstances, empowered by HIS love over our own feelings, inclinations, or ideas, we become a reflection of that completion and we introduce that perfection into an imperfect world.

FOF- Make it Real
Slide

I jokingly (not so jokingly) tell people that I am a recovering perfectionist. I love order and I love when things are done right. But the problem is, I often fall short of this ideal... in fact, I have never actually met it. I strive and push for perfection, only to fall short time and time again. But God has been teaching me that He never asked me to be perfect from my own strength or in my own power. He asks me to be perfect in Him alone.

Slide

But what does that actually mean and how does that play out in reality? See, here is the thing... God is perfect. We are not. Period. There is nothing we can do to be perfect in and of ourselves. Why? Because we were never MADE to be perfect in and of ourselves. We were made to need Him. In the garden, before the fall, Adam and Eve existed in perfect harmony with God. He was their Lord and King and they obeyed and lived in the perfect shelter of a perfect union with the perfect God. Nothing was lacking, nothing needed to be complete.

Slide

Then sin entered the world when Adam and Eve sinned. They broke the perfect relationship with God and tried to find perfection on their own. And humankind has been making the same mistake ever since. We have been striving for perfection, completeness, and wholeness on our own- grasping in the dark, fumbling and failing.

Slide

But God our good, good Father never wanted it this way. He says “Come and receive. Seek and find.” When we let His perfection fill in the intentional voids in our soul, He makes us whole. He completes us. No person, possession, idea, community, addiction, lust, or enjoyment can ever complete us. Only God, the perfect Father. That is what Jesus is telling His followers in today’s verse. It is the perfection of the Father that allows us to even BEGIN to walk in the ways in which He describes. It is His perfection, His wholeness, His lacking nothing that works out perfection in us.

Slide

We were created in His image and for His glory. We were created to be one with Him. Anything short of that will not be enough. It will always be lacking. Now does this mean that we always do what is right? No, we are still broken and this side of heaven we will always struggle against the sin nature inside of us. That sin nature tries to pull us away from Him. It breaks the bond and whispers that we can do it on our own. But praise God, He sent His Spirit to take up residence inside all believers, to indwell His Church, and to lead us away from the sin that so easily entangles us so that we CAN run with endurance and with our eyes fixed on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Slide

So, this week, as you reflect on the perfection of our God, I want to encourage you to invite Him into any place in your life where you feel lacking. Any place where there is a gaping hole, a place of inadequacy, or a place of fear- those are the places where we need our good Father to make us whole. Turn to Him. Cease striving and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10). Let Him fill you, complete you, make you whole. Let Him guide you how to walk out this holiness and the calling of His love. We can’t even begin to do it on our own. We need God. But in His perfection, He promises we can have all of Him we could ever need. Praise God!

FOF- End in Prayer
Slide

Father God,

I need You so much. I am so far from complete or perfect on my own. But in You I have everything I need. You are the point. You are the perfection. God, fill me to overflowing with Your presence. Let me walk in Your perfection and wholeness. Teach me what that looks like in my everyday life. I love You so much and I am so grateful for Your presence in my life.

In the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen

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“Therefore, you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” 

Matthew 5:48

Behind the Scenes

I don’t know about you, but I read a verse like this and immediately something sets off like dissonance in my soul. Wait a minute… I have to be perfect? I thought the point was that I couldn’t be perfect. That’s why I need a Savior. Now, I’m all kinds of confused and a bit worried because I know I can’t be perfect. So, is Jesus in this passage asking us to do something we can’t do? Is He setting us up for failure? 

This is where understanding the text becomes so, so, so important or we can misread a verse like this. We can easily build a system of theology on a misunderstanding. So, let’s dig in and see what this verse really means. When we look at the original Greek word for “perfect” we learn that it is the word teleios, which means “brought to its end, finished; wanting nothing necessary for completeness”.  

So, we see here that the statement Jesus is making is that we would be full and complete, lacking nothing. He isn’t telling us to be perfect on our own or that we are responsible for this perfection. If we read this verse in context, Jesus has just been calling us to a new way of living. The verses previously include ideas like turning the other cheek, giving your cloak to someone who asks for just a shirt, walking the extra mile, loving your enemies, and so on. Jesus has been pointing out how a follower is to act in difficult circumstances.  

I love that James continues this idea in his letter to the Hebrew people. In James 1:2-4 he tells us, “Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Again, here is the idea of being perfect, lacking nothing. And how does it come about? By enduring trials with perseverance and joy. Sounds a lot like what Jesus was teaching, right? 

But why? And how does this relate to the person of God? If we bounce back to our verse today, Jesus tells us why we are to be “perfect” (lacking nothing)- because it reflects the person of God! He is perfect, lacking nothing required to be complete. And when we choose to walk through difficult circumstances, empowered by HIS love over our own feelings, inclinations, or ideas, we become a reflection of that completion and we introduce that perfection into an imperfect world.  

Make It Real

I jokingly (not so jokingly) tell people that I am a recovering perfectionist. I love order and I love when things are done right. But the problem is, I often fall short of this ideal… in fact, I have never actually met it. I strive and push for perfection, only to fall short time and time again. But God has been teaching me that He never asked me to be perfect from my own strength or in my own power. He asks me to be perfect in Him alone.  

But what does that actually mean and how does that play out in reality? See, here is the thing… God is perfect. We are not. Period. There is nothing we can do to be perfect in and of ourselves. Why? Because we were never MADE to be perfect in and of ourselves. We were made to need Him. In the garden, before the fall, Adam and Eve existed in perfect harmony with God. He was their Lord and King and they obeyed and lived in the perfect shelter of a perfect union with the perfect God. Nothing was lacking, nothing needed to be complete.  

Then sin entered the world when Adam and Eve sinned. They broke the perfect relationship with God and tried to find perfection on their own. And humankind has been making the same mistake ever since. We have been striving for perfection, completeness, and wholeness on our own- grasping in the dark, fumbling and failing.  

But God our good, good Father never wanted it this way. He says “Come and receive. Seek and find.” When we let His perfection fill in the intentional voids in our soul, He makes us whole. He completes us. No person, possession, idea, community, addiction, lust, or enjoyment can ever complete us. Only God, the perfect Father. That is what Jesus is telling His followers in today’s verse. It is the perfection of the Father that allows us to even BEGIN to walk in the ways in which He describes. It is His perfection, His wholeness, His lacking nothing that works out perfection in us.  

We were created in His image and for His glory. We were created to be one with Him. Anything short of that will not be enough. It will always be lacking. Now does this mean that we always do what is right? No, we are still broken and this side of heaven we will always struggle against the sin nature inside of us. That sin nature tries to pull us away from Him. It breaks the bond and whispers that we can do it on our own. But praise God, He sent His Spirit to take up residence inside all believers, to indwell His Church, and to lead us away from the sin that so easily entangles us so that we CAN run with endurance and with our eyes fixed on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2) 

So, this week, as you reflect on the perfection of our God, I want to encourage you to invite Him into any place in your life where you feel lacking. Any place where there is a gaping hole, a place of inadequacy, or a place of fear- those are the places where we need our good Father to make us whole. Turn to Him. Cease striving and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10). Let Him fill you, complete you, make you whole. Let Him guide you how to walk out this holiness and the calling of His love. We can’t even begin to do it on our own. We need God. But in His perfection, He promises we can have all of Him we could ever need. Praise God! 

Crystal Garnett

Crystal Garnett

ACF Digital Discipleship Director and Church Planter

End in Prayer

Father God, 

I need You so much. I am so far from complete or perfect on my own. But in You I have everything I need. You are the point. You are the perfection. God, fill me to overflowing with Your presence. Let me walk in Your perfection and wholeness. Teach me what that looks like in my everyday life. I love You so much and I am so grateful for Your presence in my life. 

In the name of Jesus Christ, 

Amen

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