In February of 2016, presidential hopeful Donald Trump drew a laugh from a crowd by remarking on the importance of his hair looking perfect even from the back. After all, he joked, he might be photographed walking away from someone, and he wanted to be at his best even then.
The fact is, not even Donald Trump’s hair can be perfectly coiffed every moment of every day.
As Christians, we often feel as if we must be perfect every moment, in every way. If anyone finds a flaw in us, even when seen from the back, we feel compromised, as if we have one foot already on the road to hell.
Yet, our Lord came to us because he knew there were no perfect people. He came to bridge that gap. He came to be the perfection that we could never achieve on our own.
How do we achieve the perfection of Christ?
We remember Paul’s words in Romans 3:23:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
We accept John 3:16’s admonition that Jesus fills the gap:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
We live our lives by the words of Matthew 5:39:
“I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
We show respect for the world’s rulers as voiced in 1 Peter 2:13:
“Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme.”
We claim the daily faith expressed in Romans 10:9:
“Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
The truth of the matter is, we can’t walk the straight and narrow path to redemption on our own. Humanly, we’re not capable of that level of perfection. However, with Jesus at our side, we will find we can become more than we ever thought we could be. We will be perfect from every angle, because it’s the image of Jesus that everyone will see when we pass by.
It’s Jesus that makes us perfect, not what we can do on our own.
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