Where were you on June 25? After weeks of neglecting
my workout regime, that day found me back in the gym
when I learned of the deaths of two celebrity icons:
Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. With the news came
a wave of childhood memories of dancing to Michael's
tunes and watching empowered, beautiful women fight for justice in the first run
of Charlie's Angels. (Yes I was a major fan, as I named my firstborn daughter
after one
It’s interesting to watch the reactions of others, with worldwide events such as
these. Somehow celebrities are put on a pedestal at their peak, and when they
fall from stardom the rumors fly. Celebrities rise high and fall hard because of our
nature to want to worship someone or something. The pressure to be perfect or
flawless for one’s fans is all consuming for most celebrities, and impossible as it
is unattainable.
No matter how perfect someone's life may look to us, we never know what's
going on in their heart. The last leg of Michael's journey was a sad one, while
Farrah seemed to have come to a place in her life where she understood beauty
and purpose come from a deeper place. I pray that both of them made their
peace with God, but only He knows. No matter how far one has strayed or how
deep the sin stain is on one's life, there is hope for the hopeless. I'm very thankful
that I am not the judge and that Jesus, who died for sin, judges perfectly.
Reflecting on the life and death of another human being, including those whose
names have made the walk of fame, we realize this world is not as it should be.
Deep down we are all looking for something more: perfection.
“But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Matthew
5:48
Whoa. My perfectionist tendencies are revealed to me when I read this verse. I
know that if I try to be perfect or flawless by my own merit, I am bound to fail.
The dictionary defines flawless as: "without a flaw; a flawless gemstone, being
complete of its kind and without defect or blemish." When a diamond is being
judged on a quality level, the one doing the judging follows the 4 C's: cut, color,
clarity and carat. Thankfully God does not judge on the outside, but sees what is
going on within us - He looks to our hearts.
of them!)
Don't you long to be flawless? With all my wayward ways and rough edges, I
have a long road to travel on my journey of faith. I want to be all I can be, but
need all the grace in God's kingdom to hold me up. Jesus loves us just as we
are, but loves us too much to leave us as we are. It’s all about restoration.
In studying the Bible, I am reminded that our English language is quite limited.
We can be so thankful for those who study the original Greek and Hebrew Bible
texts, as they increase our understanding of the scriptures so much more. In
Matthew 5:48, the Greek word for perfect is teleio, which means complete. Jesus
Christ was the only person who was able to live a complete life because he was
without sin. As we look to Jesus, our perfect and complete example, we are able
to see what being complete looks like. In light of this, we can pursue perfection
by the grace of God and the empowering of the Holy Spirit, who enables us to
demonstrate His fruit, as mentioned in Galatians 5: “Love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, gentleness, self control, and goodness.”
Here is that same verse from the Amplified Bible, which expands in parenthesis
the meaning of some words that need clarification.
"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."
Matthew 5:48 (Amplified Bible)
As a jeweler constantly views gems for flaws and rates them accordingly, the
world judges with its own standards of perfection. God's Word judges us. Christ
Jesus is the only perfect judge and as we live in faith and abide in Christ we are
accepted, secure, significant and loved. Do you struggle with perfectionism?
Grace covers us all as we seek to have complete dependence on the One who is
flawless.
“As for God, his ways are perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless.” Psalm 18:30
Jodi Kozan is the founder and Executive Director of Women’s Journey of Faith -
a non-profit, non-denominational ministry to all women. The WJOF team is
gearing up for their 10th anniversary this fall with their Flawless event: at
Saskatoon's TCU Place on November 7th with keynote speaker Liz Curtis Higgs,
and at Calgary's Telus Centre for the first time on November 14th, featuring
Angela Thomas. For more information, visit their website at www.wjof.com
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