Gracious Living through Father’s perfection

Call To Prayer

Title: Gracious living through Father’s perfection

By: Simon Maina Nuhu

Date: 11.11.2022

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect”. (Matthew 5:48)

God’s perfection is so pure and contagious that every creature (living and non-living) acknowledges it. If there arises the need to ask what makes God, God, the answer is, it is His perfect character and consistent excellence in all things pertaining to holiness (Psalm 18:30). God almighty is all round perfect in love, in mercy, in kindness, goodness, in meekness, in patience, in wisdom, in righteousness, in giving, in favor and excellent in forgiveness. These attributes are the paramount features to indicate the presence of God in any situation. He sends rain to the wicked and the righteous alike, causes the sun to shine on all regardless of their allegiance or lifestyle, He gives out oxygen to all without a condition.

As dear children of God, we are expected by default to demonstrate His true perfection effortlessly. It is therefore erroneous to say, we are humans and we can’t be perfect. We need to, first of all, know that if we belong to Him through Christ, then we are children of God (John 1:12) not slaves or servants. Such a claim is erroneous because it is the voice of excuse and carnal weakness. If God Himself showered commendation on Job, a man whom He called perfect and upright (Job 1:8), someone who never saw the day of Christ, never had the opportunity to attend Christian conferences, Sunday service, crusades, Bible studies, etc, yet was able to attain perfection verified by God Himself, then, how much more of us having Christ complete perfection, grace, advanced knowledge of God and an excellent Spirit?

In (Matthew 5: 43-47), Jesus had to correct the error of the past where they used to uphold “thou shall love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy”  which is also ‘tit for tat’ or ‘tooth for tooth’  recompense. We are made to love our enemies, bless them that curse us, do good to them that hate us, and pray for them who despitefully use us; by so doing, our righteousness will exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees (John 5;20). The Pharisees also portray a form of righteousness (superficial with eye service) that is judgmental and pretentious; such does not attract God’s attention. We can indeed be perfect through Christ, but we need to purge our hearts. The heart is the center of all thoughts and imaginations that birth eventual action (evil or righteous). God Almighty searches a man’s heart (Jeremiah 17:10). To be like Him, our heart must be totally connected to His will, mind, and power by absolute surrender.

Prayer point:

Let’s thank for the word and also ask Him to make us perfect for Him.