For some, the new year is a symbolic time to make a life-giving change. But many new year’s resolutions are less about health and healing than about perfection: how to get the perfect look, the perfect schedule, the perfect balance.
In Matthew 5:48, Jesus says: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Is faith really about being perfect like God? Thankfully, there is good news hidden in this verse. The word we translate from the original Greek into English as “perfect” is telos, which is much better translated as “complete.” Telos is really about the fulfillment of our purpose, like a seed that grows into a plant, blooms, and produces fruit.
God never intended for us to “be perfect” by being the same, and God never asked us to become someone else. Rather, God’s desire is for us to become more fully ourselves, to be who we truly are. The truth Jesus reveals to us is that we are, already and always, God’s beloved children. God has created us as diverse people and called us very good.
This message is excerpted from “Perfectly imperfect” by Meghan Johnston Aelabouni in the January 2019 Café online magazine.
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