The Perfection We Seek

One Scripture says “God is love” (1 John 4:16), but another says “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). How do we reconcile these two? We must understand just as God is perfect in love, so He is also perfect in holiness.

God does not compromise His holiness to accommodate anyone. He placed Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden, but drove them out after they sinned. He appointed Aaron’s sons as priests but destroyed two of them when they offered “strange fire” (Leviticus 10). Ananias and Sapphira were among the earliest Christians but God punished them for lying (Acts 5:1-11). Even in the New Testament age, God does not tolerate sin in His presence.

We need to understand something of God’s holiness before we can understand His love. If we grasp how holy God is, it helps us to see that He must have a tremendous love for us, since He gave His own Son to save us.

God proves His own love for us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

God’s love does indeed give us a reason to smile, but it s not an indulgent love that is satisfied to let us do as we please. It is rather a redemptive love that yearns for us to be holy as God Himself is holy.

You must be made perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48).

Following Jesus is not a “do it yourself” endeavor. We cannot be perfect, no matter how hard we try. It is the Father who is engaged in the work of perfecting us. Our role is to fully cooperate with His work in us. If we try by our own efforts to be perfect, we sentence ourselves to a lifetime of repeated frustration. Rather than focusing on, “How am I doing?”, we instead should ask, “Father, what do You want me to do?”

“Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).

She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His words… Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her (Luke 10:39, 42).

Devour God’s Word.

Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became a delight to me and the joy of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of Hosts (Jeremiah 15:16).

So that you may will know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the Living God, the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15).

Do good works because you love God not because people expect them.