August 2nd, 2023
Wednesday, August 2
Perfect Love
By: Melissa Beauvais
“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48
I am not sure about you, but I am a hot mess. I own that I do not have it all together; sometimes, I can be opinionated, and grumpy, and I talk too much. And yet, God is continuing to transform me from all my flaws and direct them into His image and design.
It is easy when reading this passage to see the word “perfect” and think flawless or without blemish. But that is not the context or the meaning here. The word that Jesus uses for “perfect” is teleios. Teleios in Greek means complete or purposed. Then this leads us to the question, why is Jesus telling us that we are to be perfect?
Jesus spoke to the crowd of Jewish people about love, specifically loving both those who do good and those who do wrong. Our flesh wants to hate those who have wronged us or get caught up in the echo chamber with like-minds and love those who agree, but Jesus says when love is in us, “You are to be perfect.”
This is interesting; “You are to be,” is an ongoing action. The love given by the Father, seen in the life of Jesus, and now in us with the power to do the same, is ongoing and will look like the Father’s love!!
A lady at a Bible study I led on Thursday sang us a song I did not know. When I got home, I listened to it in its entirety. It is a prayer to God, a reflection, and possible repentance where needed. These are the questions asked in the lyrics:
Do I show in the way I walk in my life the love that You’ve given me?
Do they see Jesus in me?
Do they recognize Your face?
Do I communicate Your love?
Do I reflect who You are in the way I choose to be?
So, in my opinions, my grumpiness, and words, God is doing His work so it is not me that is heard or seen but only Him. We may not be flawless until we are walking in the New Creation with Jesus, but we can be a continuing work of God’s completed and purposed love in us to those around us.
Perfect Love
By: Melissa Beauvais
“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48
I am not sure about you, but I am a hot mess. I own that I do not have it all together; sometimes, I can be opinionated, and grumpy, and I talk too much. And yet, God is continuing to transform me from all my flaws and direct them into His image and design.
It is easy when reading this passage to see the word “perfect” and think flawless or without blemish. But that is not the context or the meaning here. The word that Jesus uses for “perfect” is teleios. Teleios in Greek means complete or purposed. Then this leads us to the question, why is Jesus telling us that we are to be perfect?
Jesus spoke to the crowd of Jewish people about love, specifically loving both those who do good and those who do wrong. Our flesh wants to hate those who have wronged us or get caught up in the echo chamber with like-minds and love those who agree, but Jesus says when love is in us, “You are to be perfect.”
This is interesting; “You are to be,” is an ongoing action. The love given by the Father, seen in the life of Jesus, and now in us with the power to do the same, is ongoing and will look like the Father’s love!!
A lady at a Bible study I led on Thursday sang us a song I did not know. When I got home, I listened to it in its entirety. It is a prayer to God, a reflection, and possible repentance where needed. These are the questions asked in the lyrics:
Do I show in the way I walk in my life the love that You’ve given me?
Do they see Jesus in me?
Do they recognize Your face?
Do I communicate Your love?
Do I reflect who You are in the way I choose to be?
So, in my opinions, my grumpiness, and words, God is doing His work so it is not me that is heard or seen but only Him. We may not be flawless until we are walking in the New Creation with Jesus, but we can be a continuing work of God’s completed and purposed love in us to those around us.
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