Bread for the JourneySample

Imperfect

There is no doubt about human imperfection; we have too much evidence to deny it. In the beginning, God created man and woman and rejoiced because He saw that what He had created was good. But that man and woman, who were perfect, had the capacity to obey or disobey, and that God-given capacity did not make them imperfect. Using their free will, they made the decision to disobey, which immediately took them from being perfect to imperfection.

Since then, the entire human race in all generations bears the stamp of imperfection. The result is a world that suffers the consequences of that condition. Sin has taken charge of it, leaving a trail of bad things that continue to increase as humanity moves further and further away from its Creator.

Glory to the Father for His incarnate Son who became man and lived among us. A human being who was perfect, holy, and without sin. “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:5-8, NIV)

That Christ, who offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to redeem us and free us from sin, has made us new creations; we have been born again. Are we perfect now? Not at all; we are more than aware of our imperfections. But something wonderful has happened: we have been called to perfection.

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48, NIV) These are words spoken by Jesus and are directed to all children of God, who are also called to do God's will. Should we be frustrated because we know we are imperfect? Should we walk with our heads down because of the awareness we have of our imperfections?

Let's look at the example of Paul, the Lord's servant. This tremendous man of God ministered, preached, taught, and lived for his Master. But he also struggled with his human weakness. Let's hear him talk about that imperfection: “So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” (Romans 7:21-24, NIV)

But that powerful awareness never stopped him from wanting to do God's will. He had the answer to that question: “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” (Romans 7:25, NIV) He had decided to follow Christ. He did not live embittered by his flaws, by his imperfection. He did not pity himself, and much less did he stop doing what his Lord had called him to do.

His focus was very clear, which is why he could say those beautiful words full of faith and hope: “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” (Philippians 3:12, NIV)