Wednesday, April 4, 2012

James

I've been doing a Bible study on the book of James (sorry if you thought I was announcing a baby name...) the past few months with a few of my friends and I am just amazed (and humbled!) by how much conviction and truth and amazingness was packed into the 5 short chapters that are the book of James.

One big concept of James is the idea of "perfection." I've often struggled with the idea of needing to be perfect I know, it's laughable, but seriously, I knew in the Bible it said that we are called to perfection and I've struggled with trying (and obviously failing - repeatedly) on my own to be what I thought this "perfect" meant I needed to be (thus having feelings of failure, self loathing, and guilt immediately following the inevitable "imperfection").

It says:

Matthew 5:48 "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

James 1:4 says, "Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be perfect and complete, not lacking anything."


Packs a punch, no?

So anyway, after burying my head in the sand (so to speak) and feeling like I should have never even done this Bible study because surely I'm not cut out for this "perfection" thing, I read these words that were literally music to my ears:

"His call to perfection is not about achieving an abstract state of moral perfection but about living holistic lives before God...To live a life of perfection is not to make all A's or to never miss a Sunday at church; rather, it is to live a life true to our identity as children of an utterly untemptable God who never changes, shows no partiality, and has no darkness in Him at all."

- Melissa Moore Fitzpatrick

Perfection is not having a lot of money or the perfect body. It can not be found in social status. It is not about having a clean house or kids that never misbehave. It is not about never messing up or making mistakes. It is not about having all of our ducks in a row at any given time.

Perfection is not something we can achieve on our own (no matter how hard we work at presenting ourselves as such).

True PERFECTION  can only be found through living a life buried in the saving grace of Jesus Christ, God's son, the only example of pure perfection.

I am so unbelievably grateful for His grace and mercy. Neither of which I will ever deserve, but both of which I have humbly accepted. Daily.
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5 comments:

  1. BrittanyApril 4, 2012 at 11:37 PM

    Oh, James. Not for the weak, that's for sure. I'm very thankful for His grace and mercy as well. Sometimes I'm just so in awe of just how much He did for us, I just drop to my knees and cry out praises. We serve an AMAZING God. That's for sure! I love you!

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    1. Five Arrows FarmApril 7, 2012 at 9:55 AM

      Not for the weak. No kidding. I usually flip to that book, read the first 3 versesa and then close my Bible and figure with those three I've got enough to work on for a WHILE. ;)

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  2. mrs.boring stay at homerApril 5, 2012 at 9:01 AM

    What a wonderful post, Karey. It amazes me every time I open His book, no matter how many times I've read a chapter or certain verses, He speaks to me.

    This week is an especially bitter sweet time, as we stop and think about what Jesus was going through. The torture, crucifixion. All for our imperfect souls.

    Great post.

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    1. Five Arrows FarmApril 7, 2012 at 9:57 AM

      Thanks, Jackie. And I agree. It's heartbreaking all that He *chose* to go through, not for himself, but for *me* and my imperfections (and there are a LOT of them). <3

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  3. SydneyApril 9, 2012 at 12:50 PM

    I love this... I know I have had the self-doubts many times. Thanks for sharing!

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