Strive For Perfection

31 Oct

“While God desires us to be perfect he does not expect it.  All He asks is that we keep on trying.”  ~ Words to the shepherd David in the movie, David.

“Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”  Those words, spoken by Jesus as reported in the Gospels, are truly a nightmare to perfectionists.  Yes, there are people who are “wired” for perfection and when we do not achieve it, we become extremely agitated.  Not only do perfectionists expect nothing by the best from themselves, they often expect it from all those around them as well.  It makes for a very frustrating life.

There will be a day when we are perfect.  That day will come when we die and are admitted to the Kingdom.  At that moment, all that is within us will be perfected, as our Heavenly Father is perfect.  While on this earth, however, it is not something that will ever happen.  That is because we are in imperfect bodies on an imperfect world.  Perfection does not belong to our flawed human nature.  It belongs to God.

That does not mean that we cannot seek to be better each day.  God calls us to try with all our might and to overcome all that keeps us from Him.  In doing so, we come closer to the perfection that will be ours one day.

Too many people shut down when they realize that they cannot be perfect.  They give up.  They wallow in their own self-pity.  That is not what God calls us to do or to be.

Strive with all your might this day to do good and to be good.  And, if at all possible, strive with all your might to be just a tiny bit better than you were yesterday.  God will be pleased with our struggle and will give us the grace that we need to continue

FAITH ACTION:  Do the absolute best that you can do today and be happy with that.

This evening, in most communities, children and teens will be out trick-or-treating.  If you are on the roads, please be extra vigilant of the ghosts and goblins roaming your neighborhoods.