Friday, March 6, 2009
Be Perfect as Your Heavenly Father is Perfect
I am in the class Life and Teachings of Jesus this semester. Part of this class is participating in an online discussion board. The topic at the moment is Jesus and nonviolence. While looking at the Sermon on the Mount to try to give a reason that I feel Jesus was non-violent and taught non-violence I noticed something that struck me. I have grown up in The Church of the Nazarene so I have grown up hearing the verse that says "Be Perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." What I don't think I have ever noticed before is this comes as an ending to Jesus discussing turning the other cheek, loving and praying for our enemies and those who persecute us. I don't really know what the significance of that is yet as I'm still kind of digesting it, but it seems like it should be a significant thing. Maybe its too strong to say that the essence of perfection is not to make sure you don't cuss or watch questionable movies and TV shows but is to love in the fashion that Jesus taught and portrayed for us. Unfortunately in my mind that isn't any easier for me. I think if I was just given a list of things not to do I could maybe attain that goal, but it seems much loftier to try to love my enemies and pray for people who persecute me. I didn't realize how much crap I talk about people until this Lent where I am trying to give up saying negative things about people. I am failing miserably at this. I used to think I was pretty good at loving my enemies but I'm not even good at loving people who irk me. I guess its a good thing that I'm aware of this all now, but I'm not real sure how to move forward from awareness. If I tried to write much more it would just turn into rambling so I'm going to stop typing now.
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3 comments:
Jesus says the same thing in Matthew 5:48 after He commands His disciples to love their enemies too. So often I read this and think, "Well, yeah! He was GOD. He WAS perfect." The cool thing about this word (Greek: teleios - complete)is that it has the idea of an intended purpose. In other words, I think that Jesus is telling us to intend or strive to be perfect IN LOVE like He is.
Now, the question is-- what does being perfect in love look like today?
These are some good thoughts, Dan. Thanks for bringing this up. :)
too bad I missed that discussion board...haha
stay strong man...you have to realize that you cannot accomplish anything, only your Father can change you.
I don't think I would echo the statement that you can't accomplish anything... but I think the sentiment behind it would be one I would endorse. God has already done the work necessary and provided the grace: You can love others perfectly in as much as you choose to rely on God instead of coosing to rely on your own nature and your habits.
Make good choices... ones that the Father would be proud of.
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