Perfection!

II Samuel 22:31 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.

I King 8:61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

Matthew 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

II Corinthians 13:12 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

Philippians 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

James 1:25 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

I John 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

I John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

The word perfect is mentioned in the King James Version of the bible 99 times in 94 verses, but the context in each verse must be understood separately from all the rest. Perhaps, some day, but not today, I will attempt to expound upon each of the verses above, but I've used them today for a specific purpose.

God is perfect--flawless and totally sovereign. He does not need to seek the advice of anyone nor does he need anything from anyone. His existence is complete within Himself and nothing we say or do--one way or the other--shall ever change that.

The fact of the matter is--while He desires our praise and worship--He doesn't need it to exist; however, we need Him in our lives and if we live according to His Word--nothing wavering, we benefit from His goodness and mercy and grace. God is Love and since He loves, we ought to be able to love one another--just as He does--unconditionally. This is how perfection works in us.

Think about how He loves us--in spite of our flaws and imperfections. No matter how many mistakes we make--He keeps loving us, giving us chance after chance after chance--especially when He knows we are living to please Him.

Living to please Him doesn't make us perfect since we are still in a mortal body, but it does mean when we recognize our faults and what we've done wrong, we turn to Him in repentance, seeking His forgiveness and determine not to repeat the same mistakes.

The most important thing that I want to say today is that when we love as He loves--we don't promote fear or hatred because perfect love casts fear aside. Where there is love, there is no room for fear or hatred. And we shall be known by others--by our love--one for the other.

So, let's live according to His Word--that is perfect and tried--and love as He loves--not promoting fear and provoking hatred, but promoting love by our example--on a daily basis. This is how we achieve perfection as God sees it.