Christian Perfection

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48

Some people have stumbled in their walk with Christ after reading His requirement of perfection. “It’s impossible to be perfect,” they persist, “so why keep on trying?” Perhaps you have felt this way at some point in your life, too.

The following quotation is from one of John Wesley’s letters which he wrote to a critic of his teaching on Christian perfection: “By ‘Christian Perfection’ I mean:

1) Loving God with all your heart.

Do you object to this?

2) A heart and a life all devoted to God.

Do you desire less?

3) Regaining the whole image of God.

What objection is there to this?

4) Having all the mind that was in Christ.

Is this going too far?

5) Walking uniformly as Christ walked.

And to this surely no Christian will object.

If anyone means anything more or anything less by perfection, I have no concern about it.”

PRAY: “Loving Father, I know You expect me to be all I can be; and Your Word says that, if I claim to be a Christian, I must walk as Jesus walked.* Empower me to do so by Your Spirit. Amen.”