Grow Up!

Matthew 5:⁴⁸ “You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete maturity of godliness in mind and character, having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (AMPC, emphasis added).

My prayer is that you will be more like Jesus tomorrow than you are today. And as beautiful and as perfect as things look today, when you are more like Jesus tomorrow, you will realize that you were not perfect today. So, don’t bite the bait of I Will Be Perfect One Day. You will not be perfect on this side of eternity. Matthew 5:⁴⁸ “But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” This is the scripture people usually quote about being perfect, even though they misunderstand it. You are to be even as He is. They are like, didn’t God say be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect? Let’s do a quick unpacking for a better understanding of this scripture. Most times, when you look at scriptures in context, things become clearer.

Matthew 5:^44-48 “When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the supple moves of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that. “In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.” (MSG, emphasis added).

Grow up and be like your Father, that is what scripture is saying. You shouldn’t be where you were yesterday. Someone said hello to you yesterday, and you didn’t respond. Yes, you are not perfect, but God is saying, “Don’t stay there. Grow up!” You have an opportunity to say hello today. Grow up. You should keep growing. The flip side of this is that there is a lot of bad behaviour because people say I will not be perfect. So, people are consistently badly behaved. In fact, they are worse than they were yesterday, and they hide under the fact that nobody is perfect. That is a bait. It is like a two-edged sword. Don’t bite it.

God expects you to grow. The things that dealt with you yesterday and overcame you yesterday, you should overcome today. I pray in the Name of Jesus that today you will overcome everything that held you back yesterday. You should keep on growing because the truth is, you can always be better. You can be better than you were yesterday. But you will not be perfect. It is a tension that we have to live with; you can be better, but you will not be perfect.

Prayer: Father, I ask for the grace to consistently grow, in the Name of Jesus. Amen!