Do You Think You Are Perfect?

Many of us strive to be perfect in everything we do. We try to be the perfect husband or wife, father or mother, son or daughter, worker, student, athlete, corn-hole player, bridge player, and the list could go on and on. The standard of trying to be the perfect “whatever” is an endless drive to be the best we can be. I hope you get the point – we try everyday to be PERFECT! We even try to be the perfect Christian or hold people in the church to perfection, but in all reality that will never be an attainable goal for any of us that strive to follow Christ. There is only ONE that was and is the PERFECT person of the world and that is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ ( John 1:1,14; Hebrews 4:15). He was blameless because he kept the law with perfection.

Perfection is, broadly, a state of completeness and flawlessness. How in the world will any of us ever be able to reach the standard of this definition. Well, the answer is – NEVER! We will never be able to be perfect no matter how hard we try.

In Romans 3:23, Paul doesn’t say that all have fallen short of the glory of God. Look at the verb tense here: all fall short of the glory of God. He shifts to the present tense for a reason. We often use Romans 3:23 to show the unbeliever that he has sinned and that he falls short of the glory of God. Actually the verse says that all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God. The International Standard Version translates the verse to say since all have sinned and continue to fall short of God’s glory. EVERYONE of us has sin, and we will always be in a continuous struggle with sin until the day we die.

So, the next time you look down upon someone for a sin that they are struggling with or overcoming, make sure you examine yourself too. And remember that the verse looks not only at past sins, but also at a present shortfall that you may have in relation to God’s glory. We must strive to reflect God’s glory in all that we do. To do so requires among other things that we suffer with Christ. And if we abide in a life of suffering with Christ, we will obtain a fuller measure of His glory forever.