Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect. — Matthew 5:48.
As a young boy, this verse gave me a lot of trouble, and in many ways, it still does. I knew then that I wasn’t perfect, hardly even close. The best I ever got was kind of “good,” with a lot of fudging. How could I possibly approach God’s perfection? The ministers at the time didn’t resolve my confusion. They would dodge the issue by saying Jesus meant for us to “try” to be perfect or that every time we failed we would be forgiven, as long as we kept making amends. None of those explanations ever quite got it for me. They focused on an impossible standard of behavior, not on the true nature of God’s perfection.
The key to understanding this challenging verse lies in looking at the verses that come immediately before it. Just a few lines earlier, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
In this context, the call to be perfect is not about being flawless or sinless. It’s about a specific kind of perfection—the completeness of love. Jesus isn’t asking for moral perfection, but for relational perfection. He is inviting us to be like God in one specific way: by loving unconditionally, extending our kindness and grace to everyone, even those we consider our enemies. The sun and rain are given to all without discrimination. This impartial, unconditional giving is God’s perfection that we are called to emulate. It’s an act of radical generosity and inclusion.
Ultimately, the verse isn’t an unattainable command that condemns us to failure. Instead, it is an invitation to participate in a divine way of living. Perfection, in this light, is not about the absence of mistakes, but about the presence of a complete, whole love. It is a love that does not stop at our friends, family, or those who are good to us, but extends to the difficult, the unlovable, and the unworthy. To be perfect, then, is to allow our hearts and actions to become as whole and inclusive as God’s love for all of his creation. We may stumble, but the goal is to keep extending that circle of compassion.
I wonder if this meditation was influenced by DT’s statements at Kirk’s memorial that he “hates” his enemies?
Not really, I have a bad habit of trying to ignore him, but it is interesting that for once he was being honest about himself.
You nailed this devotion. About DJT, I strongly believe he is bipolar. I went to his one rally in California, and he talked about staying up all night worrying about the progressives. That clinched for me. No doubt the psychiatrists at Walter Reed Hospital are ready for him to pay them a visit. I pray that DJT gets the help he needs. Most of the time I keep working on me and let God take care of the things I can’t control.