Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48
This is quite an expectation of our Lord. Yet, isn’t His Spirit in everyone claiming to be a Christ follower? We must live as one who has been given the gift of God’s miracle in you—the very essence and being of the Holy Spirit. As we live we are to allow the Lord to be evident on our outside, our life actions. Christ lived a sinless, perfect life; the most evident point of his perfection was His love, forgiveness, mercy, and grace toward everyone (see Heb 4:14-16). God’s grace is the allowance for our salvation, and his grace is the power to overcome our sinful nature. Perfection manifests itself in you when the Holy Spirit is given reign to manage all there is of your essence—do you allow Him to have sovereign reign?
Walking in Christian character is not you “living good” it is, however, “God living through you,” from within you – reflecting His perfection. The authority of Jesus taught: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35). That command to love is within a moral sense (the Greek agapao; not agape to mean affection or benevolence); thus, we in Christ are to treat one another in perfection, to be moral or not sin against one another. Your longing shouldn’t be for self-actualization, but the manifestation of God’s love, which is His perfection. Again, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Your daily walk and interaction with other Christians, and all people, will reflect love and perfection within you.
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