November 4

Read: Matthew 5:43-48

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48).

Be Ye Therefore Perfect

Seventy percent is not passing with God. My Lord expects me to do better than that if I am to come up to His hopes and plans for me. What is the perfection that He requires? Who are to reach this high level? And when?

Our text is the summary sentence in a paragraph that begins with verse 43. Perfection therefore refers to a perfect love such as Jesus describes in these verses. God’s love is not limited to men who love Him. As long as life lasts, He gives the blessings of sunshine and rain even to those who reject Him. Our Lord asks us to be like God in the liberality of our love. Can I love a man who curses me? Can I sincerely pray for God to give His blessing to one who has wronged me? Can I forgive — and keep on forgiving, and loving?

It is a difficult spiritual achievement that Jesus sets before us: But it is a blessed possibility that He opens up to us. Christian perfection is high country, but living at this level comes more from God’s grace than from my achievement. If it seems an impossibly lofty height, He reaches out a hand and says, “Let Me lead you to it.”

Who may have this kind of love? All who follow Christ. Where will it happen? In this life and in my own conscious experience. How may such grace be received? By faith in God’s power and by following the urge that He puts in my heart. When may I expect it? The moment I hear God’s call and sincerely ask to be filled with His Spirit. Why should I seek to be this kind of Christian person? Because my Lord points me to it, and because I want to be a child who resembles my Heavenly Father.

Prayer For Today

Lord, could You do it for me? His answer is Yes.