You shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:27-48 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; ²⁸ but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ Now if your right eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰ And if your right hand is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

³¹ “Now it was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away is to give her a certificate of divorce’; ³² but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

³³ “Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ ³⁴ But I say to you, take no oath at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵ nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶ Nor shall you take an oath by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. ³⁷ But make sure your statement is, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil origin.

³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ ³⁹ But I say to you, do not show opposition against an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other toward him also. ⁴⁰ And if anyone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak also. ⁴¹ Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. ⁴² Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors, do they not do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Even the Gentiles, do they not do the same? ⁴⁸ Therefore you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

In Matthew 7:1-2 Jesus says: “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.”  In today’s text, Jesus tells us the higher standard of God’s measure that we will be held to if we judge others. He says: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Now if your right eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.” God knows and judges our hearts. We should not judge the one who has fallen to temptation, when we ourselves have already done it in our own hearts. Rather than judging, Galatians 6:1 says: If a person is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you are not tempted as well. We all need to remember what James 1:14-15 says: Each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death. We should not judge other because their temptation is different than ours. We need to resist the temptation to judge others so that we don’t give birth to the sin of judgment in our hearts.  By our standard of measure, it will be measured to us. If our standard is judgment, we will be judged. If our standard is restoration, then we too will be restored.

Jesus says: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors, do they not do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Even the Gentiles, do they not do the same? Therefore you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  There you have the true standard that we are called to, not just that we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, which seems difficult for us to do, but that we are to be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect. We cannot be perfect though you might say, because the flesh is weak. The key is in what Jesus told the disciples in the garden in Matthew 26:41: “Keep watching and praying, so that you do not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  We need to yield to the strength of the Spirit, rather than to the weakness of the flesh. Psalm 37:4 says: Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. If we want to know and have the perfection of the heavenly Father, it is Him that we need to focus on. Romans 8:28-30 says: We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.  God doesn’t cause everything that happens in the world. He has given us and every person free will. Our choices and their choices affect both ourselves and others. God will though cause even the difficult things that happen in our lives to work together with the good things for our good. If we will continue to focus on and delight in Him, even in the midst of difficulty and trial, we will be conformed to the perfect image of Christ His Son. We will be restored to what God intended for us in the first place when He said: “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26) We will be justified by Him; glorified in Him and perfected like Him.

May these words from Psalm 51 be our declaration and prayer:

Create in me a clean heart, God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach wrongdoers Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You. Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. Lord, open my lips, So that my mouth may declare Your praise. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, God, You will not despise. Amen.