Perfection Might Not Mean “Perfection”

Default thumbnail.

February 24, 2014 | No comments yet

Send to Kindle

by:  Staci Stallings

Here is one that might blow your mind.  What if “perfection” doesn’t mean what we think it means?

This morning in the sermon, the deacon was preaching on this verse:

“So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” –Matthew 5:48

Now I have always interpreted this verse to mean perfect like “perfect”–like you make no mistakes, like you don’t have to use an eraser or rewrite anything.  Like I always know what to do, how to do it, how to do it right, and I do it right every time without fail.

But what if that’s not what this verse means at all?

According to the deacon (and I’m not a Hebrew scholar, so I’m taking his word for this), the word “perfect” in this verse is retrotranslated to a word that is closer to meaning “complete” than our definition of “perfect.”  As in:

“So now be COMPLETE, just as your heavenly Father is COMPLETE.”

Interestingly, I can see how the translation was arrived at.  Complete = perfect  I can see that.

However, because our definition of perfect is so skewed, we might be reading this one totally wrong!

You know I love words and I love Latin/Greek root words.  So I went and looked up what plete means (com means with).  Plete means fill.  So complete means filled with.  In other words, I think it means that there is no part missing, totally full.  Perfect.

Now, this is how my brain works so stay with me a minute.Deep in the Heart Cover Final 1-18-2014

My daughter went on retreat back in December, and the theme verse for her retreat was Colossians 3:14:  ”Put on the bond of perfection, that is, love.”

The BOND OF PERFECTION.

Now I don’t know this or know a way to figure it out, but what if, the word here translated is that same iteration of the word from Matthew in which perfect actually means complete.

“Put on the bond of completion, that is, love.”

When you put those two verses together with this new understanding… WOW!

The bond of perfection (completeness) is love and that is what makes our Father perfect (complete) and what will, if we ‘put it on,’ make us perfect (filled with, whole, complete) as well!

THAT is great news to me because love is now my life goal.  In every circumstance and situation… to bring as much love as I can.  And the more I do that, the more complete (lacking nothing!) that I feel.

You should try it!

Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we believe will add value to our readers.

Read More

Becoming Anna

Default thumbnail.

January 30, 2014 | No comments yet

by:  Staci Stallings Yes, I’m still talking about “Frozen.”  Just a few more lessons, and I promise, I’ll move on. I’ve discussed the movie from Elsa’s standpoint and there is much more to say; however, I want to say here that while my experience in life has been far more Elsa-like, I have…

Read More

How Do You Talk to Yourself?

Default thumbnail.

December 5, 2013 | 2 Comments

by:  Staci Stallings Remember my last post about “Disappointed & Embarrassed”?  Well, this post takes that one and turns its focus. See, it’s awful and horrible when someone tells you they are “Disappointed & Embarrassed” by you. What’s far worse, however, is when you “Disappointed & Embarrassed” yourself. What do you say to…

Read More

Compelled!

Default thumbnail.

October 7, 2013 | No comments yet

by:  Staci Stallings Have you ever been compelled? It’s a strange word, right? COM-PELLED. It means to force or drive.  Obviously “to force” is not particularly something positive.  You don’t want to be “forced” to do something. But “to drive” is different.  If you are “driven,” we usually mean from the inside.  In other…

Read More

A NEW Creation in Christ

Default thumbnail.

October 3, 2013 | 1 Comment

by:  Staci Stallings Revelations 21:5 says this: “And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Behold, I am making all things new. Please note that Jesus did not say some things, things that are good or things that are bad, things that need tweaking.  He said he is…

Read More

Our Need for ReNewal

Default thumbnail.

September 30, 2013 | No comments yet

by:  Staci Stallings So we know that shame and fear entered the world when Adam and Eve chose themselves over God.  We know that God kicked them out of the Garden, that their relationship with God was broken, but that was THEN, right? I mean, surely, after seeing what happened to our parents,…

Read More