Permit me the privilege to powerfully welcome you all to the month of July 2018, the beginning of the second half of the year, the month of Divine Perfection. For simplicity, the word Divine simply means like God, or of God, while Perfection is the condition or the state of being as free as possible from defects or being flawless. A short excerpt from the long quote of C. JoyBell C. on perfection, says “We can only fly with two wings and the two wings can only stay in the air if there is a balance, these two beautiful wings is perfection” In my opinion, Divine perfection is that charm you need to stay afloat on water and navigate this journey of life with less stress. Also, it is the everlasting wish and desire of the most-high to see us live without blemish just like him. (Matthew 5:48). This is because, it makes us a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable before him (Romans 12:1). Furthermore, to aspire to live without flaws comes with great heavenly benefits and which have strong biblical basis, some of which are listed:
- We are assured of a peaceful end. (Psalm 37:37)
- We shall never be a cast away. (Job 8: 20)
- We shall possess our land of inhabitant and forever be established (Proverb 2: 21)
- We shall be a light to the world (Proverb 4: 18)
How then can we attain Divine Perfection? The book of James 1:4 says, but let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing -NKJV. The bible encourages us not to be anxious for nothing but with prayer and supplication we present our request to God, so, through constant prayer to God and with lot of patience Divine Perfection is attainable.
Secondly, we should fear not, as fear brings nothing but torment, however, only those that are fearless are made perfect in love (1 John 4:18). In the same vein, Righteousness is another ingredient needed to attain perfection as emphasized in proverb 11: 5. We should endeavor to stay upright in all our ways, though this may be hard sometimes, as we are humans with imperfect nature, but if we try to emulate Christ and put him first, in all we do, then nothing becomes impossible for us.
Similarly, through a deep search into the word of God, one can get Divine perfection, the bible makes it clear, that all scripture is written via inspiration of God, so man can be made perfect. (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Therefore, with daily reading of our bible and asking the holy spirit for inspiration and direction then with can attain perfection.
Finally, we need God, just to be like him, for only him is able to do a perfect job of Divine Perfection in us (Philippian 2:13), and the only way to get to God is through our lord Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth and life (John 14:6).
In conclusion, brethren, I beseech you to strive hard to be without blemish, as flawless and faultless as Christ, our Lord Jesus, so we can be partakers of the heavenly benefits meant for his faithful servants. Even though, sometimes, we tend to do the opposite of what we intend (Romans 7:15), but through Christ in us, we can achieve all things. Thank you, and stay perfect
Dr. Oluwatoba Ogundipe.