They say that nobody is perfect.
Then they tell you practice makes perfect.
I wish they’d make up their minds.
Winston Churchill
In Matthew chapters 5-7, Jesus does an awful lot of telling us what to do. Then, in the middle of it, he throws in a doozy: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
That would be OK, if I could actually do it. Mostly, the Sermon on the Mount ends up having me feel like I’ll never be good enough and I’ll never get it right. In fact, whenever I start to feel the least bit pompous, I can turn right to Matthew 5:43-48, and I’m immediately knocked down a peg.
“Be perfect.” What does that mean?
It turns out that the English translation is not really my friend. The Greek word telios gets translated as perfect, but it actually means something closer to mature, complete, whole, or with integrity.
When Jesus tells us to love our enemies, he’s really telling us to have integrity and be mature. Now, that makes me think… “How many of my enemies are really my enemies?”
The only answer that makes any sense to me is one: the one between my ears.
What I think about other people dictates what I do. If I don’t think clearly, well…garbage drives my behavior.
For example, how many times have I interpreted someone else’s actions as deliberately mean? Too many to count. And I know that I treat “mean people” differently than “nice people.”
But are people mean, or do I just think that? Maybe they’re just having a bad day…or maybe I am. After all, I’m the one with the mean thinking!
I’ve come to believe that every sin and every bad behavior is based on a lie – something I believe about someone else that’s simply not true. Something like: “She’s mean.” “He’s a jerk.” “What a hypocrite!” My behavior is based on what I believe. I only do what I believe.
Jesus says, “Be mature as your heavenly Father is mature.”
In other words, “Laura, wake up and smell the coffee. Be responsible for what you think…and get to work on the lies you believe. A mind that’s made up to think badly about someone else is not your friend.”
Why not think something different, like “Everybody’s doing the best they can.” Then see what happens. Want more? Click here to read Matthew 5:43-48.
