You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.
He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

--Parallel verses:
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭4‬-‭6‬
In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Once upon a time, there was a boy who grew up in a poor family that served as missionaries. They were reliant on God for their daily needs and a lot of the wants were not always there. There were a lot of happy days, and then, like a flash, many of these days were gone. Death had taken, it seemed, so much joy and happiness, when his parent was no more.

As this boy had to become a man fairly quickly, he tried to do some good things, in honor of his deceased parent, but sin and hardship seemed to be tough forces to conquer. He knew what was right, but something was holding him back.

As he grew older, he saw that the hardship he experienced had given him a gift. Where others had not had to struggle and hone the skills needed to persevere in life, he could survive through tough circumstances. This aided him as he built his career.

But relationships were tough and his mind, driven by the things he could control — hard work and intellect, was clearly not seeing everything correctly.

As he got married and had kids, life became more challenging. He started to spend more consistent time with God. But it seemed like his prayers at times felt weak and the connection to God was more mechanical.

He stayed faithful, and continued to look for ways to grow in his faith and cut out sin patterns that developed. Counseling and accountability became helpful. As he got older, he realized he was not growing in his relationship with God. Something was missing. And he kept falling back into the same sinful patterns.

He realized that fear was holding back his confidence and his confidence had been misplaced, in part. He knew God would honor him as he served, but he still only took risks in relationships that were somewhat safe.

Through prayer, and a series of trainings and challenges, God helped this man draw closer in relationship to him, and he used him to accomplish some things that only God could do.

He finally realized that life is a series of stages where he learns to be more and more like Jesus, drawing closer and closer to him. And the true rewards come the closer in relationship he gets.

This man is still in process. Committed more to following God. And he has tasted of the goodness of God and his powerful love. Now it is a life-long pursuit of serving him that drives him more and more. Still not perfect, still struggling at times, but battle-tested and confident in the God he serves all the more. He is seeking to become more gracious and to purify his heart.

As you may have guessed by now, this man is me. And I am in the middle of a lifelong pursuit of perfection. I decided to write this, though some may misunderstand my purpose. I do not think I am by myself great, praise-worthy, or some great model. But it is the God I serve who is and who deserves the credit. He makes me more and more like him.

Some of you are young and may hit times ahead in life where you question: Is God real or does he really care? I am here to tell you, if you are faithful and trust him, he will show you his heart. And in the process you will gain eternal PEARLS FORGED OUT OF HARDSHIP and stress. He will show you that the true treasures in life are found in drawing closer and closer to his heart in all seasons of life. And he will use “Imperfect You”, as he has me too, to WOW THE WORLD!

Jesus did not expect perfection or he would have never come to earth and died for our sins. He knew we were sinners in need of a Savior. But after he redeemed us, after we choose to follow him, he does call us to pursue perfection. He does this because he wants us to experience the ecstasy of living a life controlled more and more by his Spirit; passions and motives more and more in line with his heart.

So we seek to understand how, through the power of God’s Spirit, to love our enemies and pray with compassion and grace for those who persecute us. We do this out of obedience, though it feels unfair and weak. And as we obey, we find he is changing our hearts in the struggle. He brings the character traits into us that he values, like pearls forged under stress. “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Lord, I know I am not yet there, but I pray you will perfect me more and more every day. I am a tough perfection project. But you are able. Take what little I have and use it for your glory!