Daily Devotional
February 08, 2010
What do we bring?
"Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." Matthew 5:48
To be "perfect" here is to be perfect in our relationships with others. By using "therefore" at the beginning of the verse, the Lord links perfection with loving our enemies (vv. 43-47). This same passage in Luke's Gospel says, 35 "But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Highest. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. 36 Therefore be merciful and compassionate, just as your Father also is merciful and compassionate" (Luke 6:35-36). Matthew says, "You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." But Luke defines the meaning of perfection by saying, "Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful." So Luke explains Matthew by defining what perfection is, and Matthew defines perfection in the context of love.
Together, these two passages show us that perfection is bringing the love of God into our relationships. What do we bring into our relationships? Do we bring an ideal thought? Or do we bring the love of God? What do we bring into our relationships with one another in the church? What do we bring into our relationship in our marriage? What do we bring? What attitude do we come with? What is our standard? Is it an ideal concept that we all must conform to or measure up to? What we bring into our relationships determines the reality we have between us. The divine standard of perfection is to bring the love of God into our relationships. What we bring is God's kind of love.
- Bill Freeman, The Supplied Life