You're Perfect!
…and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 4:6-8)
“I’m not going down alone! I may have been the one who created this mess, but if I can drag a few others with me, I won’t look half as bad as I would if I were the only one taking the hit.”
Such is the way of the world. You’ve probably witnessed it at school. Someone was caught cheating on a test and they immediately start accusing other of doing the same thing. Someone clicks on the wrong website and the first thing they do when they get caught is claim “everybody does it.”
Paul stresses again in the text that God does not want us to fall into the trap of taking advantage of other. As we discussed yesterday, God wants us to be different. How different? He tells us in Leviticus 19:2 to be holy, or perfect. He wants us to be pure in what we say, think, and do. He wants us to be like him. As a matter of fact, he demands that we be like him. But who can be like God? Simply put, no one can. No one can be perfect, no one can be pure, and no one can be holy. Not without God’s help. Thankfully, the story doesn’t end there. Why? Because as God’s children we have exactly what God demands. Jesus took our sins upon himself and gave us his holiness, purity, and perfection. Through the faith given to us by the Holy Spirit, God’s gracious gift of forgiveness is ours. We meet God’s requirement. We pass the test.
May we now live as God has called us to live. Not as people who reject him, but as those who love him and want to share the message of his unending love with others.
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT: If we can't be pure and don't have to be pure, why try to be pure?
PRAYER SUGGESTIONS: Thank God for the full and free forgiveness he has given you in Jesus, and for the power to live as he has called you to live.