Good Morning Friends,
“We are glad whenever we are weak but you are
strong; and our prayer is for your perfection. This is why I write these things
when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of
authority – the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing
you down. Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal,
be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.”
(2 Corinthians 13:9-11)
Do you have a goal for your life?
Paul had one for himself and for the
Corinthians and others in whose lives he was involved. The goal was perfection.
That was the goal that Jesus also put before
us. “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)
So, what is perfection? Is it sinlessness? It
probably includes that, but there’s more to perfection that just avoiding the
wrong.
The word Jesus used and the word Paul used here
in 2 Corinthians are actually two different words.
The word Jesus used means to be mature. It’s
used of fisherman when they were mending their torn nets. They were repairing
the broken places in them. It’s also used of a doctor setting a broken bone. Again,
there is mending of what is broken. To be perfect, is to allow God to mend the
broken places in our lives. It speaks of healing and of being ready again for
that for which we were created, to live for God.
The word Paul uses has a similar meaning. It
means to be fit for use or to be thoroughly equipped. It, too, speaks of being
ready for whatever God wants to use us for.
That’s the goal in life that God sets before
us: to be ready to be used by Him in whatever way He chooses.
Achievable? Not in this life with our human
failures. Nevertheless, it is a goal worth setting before us, and the one that
God has chosen for us.
His, by Grace,
Steve
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