I Thought That God Expected Me to Be Perfect

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” —Matthew 5:48

Main Point: God only needed one perfect sacrifice - and it wasn’t you!

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” —Matthew 9:9-13

God’s calling on our lives is not to be perfect, but to be faithful.

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. —1 Timothy 1:15-16

If we were perfect, we wouldn’t need a Savior.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. —Romans 5:6-8

“Grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us more… And grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us less.” ― Philip Yancey

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. —Ephesians 3:16-19

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. —Hebrews 11:6

God wants us to pursue Him, not perfection.

Takeaway: You’re not perfect, and that’s ok - as long as you have a Savior who is.

Discussion Questions

1. Do you (or did you at an earlier stage in your life) feel the pressure to be perfect? Where do you think that came from? How do you try to cope with it?
2. How would you articulate the difference between being perfect and being faithful?
3. Why is our lack of perfection a perfect part of God’s plan for our redemption?
   Table Discussion Question: Why is God so interested in us pursuing him? What does he get out of that? What is his deepest desire for your life?