Perfect Love

You must be perfect just as your father is perfect ~ Matthew 5:48

This verse is intimidating. How could Jesus say such a thing and expect us to take him seriously? The answer lies in the context of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew, chapters 5, 6, and 7. Chapter 5 starts with hard-hitting instructions that are impossible to fulfill completely. How, for example, is one supposed never to have an angry thought lest he sins? 

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus took direct aim at the Pharisees who specialized in subjective legalism and those they oppressed with it. He named common sins and then reduced them to attitudes about one’s self and others. Jesus said that, while they observed the letter of the Law, they failed to comprehend its heart. In another place, Jesus said the Law is summed up in simple terms: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Another way to say what Jesus said in Matthew 5:48 is, “pursue perfect love like that of the Father.” 

It is the Father’s perfect love that saves repentant sinners even though they fail time and again to uphold the spirit of the Law. It is the Father’s perfect love that saves by perfect, immeasurable self-sacrifice by the Son. The Father’s perfect love sends the Spirit to refine, guide, and preserve Christian Believers through physical death and ready them for resurrection. So, as children of God’s perfect love, we are compelled to strive to love our neighbor as the Father has loved us. 

As we imitate the Father’s love, we become increasingly in love with others through sanctification. That is, imitators of the divine nature witness the perfecting of their love through repeated practice. Of course, “neighbor” doesn’t exclusively refer to the person or family next door—instead, our commission is to love those persons whom the LORD places along our way. It will be more comfortable with some than with others. With the Spirit’s help, there will be sufficient grace to persevere. 

As we begin 2021 amid the ongoing pandemic, the ongoing culture war, and the continuous reframing of what “Church” is, let us agree that the Church, or the Body of Christ, is best understood as the physical presence of Christ’s heart and mind. When we love as He loves and thinks as He thinks, we are Christ to the world we meet along our way. 

        Christian Believer, please dedicate yourself to perfecting your love in the image of the Father in your heart, in your home, in your workplace, in your community, on the road, online, on the phone, and anywhere else you are. Be especially loving with your Christian family. Be long-suffering, kind, and gracious to those who worship, learn, and serve with you. Remember that “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-10