“Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,” Philippians 3:12-13
When something is perfect, it is “completely free from faults or defects,” or “without blemish; flawless.”
When someone is trying to “perfect” something, they are trying to make or do something flawlessly. For example, a piano student will start going to lessons probably knowing very little about how to play. They will learn all of the notes to start, practicing and memorizing the location of the keys. They will learn to discern the different notes by ear. They can start out by playing simple songs with a few notes, and work up to more and more complex music.
Now a person could play for one day and say to themself, “Well, I think I have learned all that I need to know,” thinking they have perfected playing the piano, and not practice anymore, while the truth is that they still have much to learn. They might be able to find the keys and play the notes, but they can work on how hard they press on them, or timing the notes better. If they stop practicing after the first day, how can they continue to get better?
In school I took typing class. I spent hours typing a single letter at a time. A. A. A. A. U. U. U. U. At the time, I felt this was a complete waste of time, like, “Hey, I know where this letter is, can we do something else now!” I thought that I didn’t need to work on practicing my typing anymore, but now looking back I understand why we were made to fill entire pages with a single letter, over and over again. It was so that we would become better and better, and faster. When we needed to type a letter, we could type without even needing to look at the keyboard, because we were slowly perfecting our “finger memory.” And today as I write this, any letter that I need to type I know exactly where it is, and I could type blindfolded. And while I still am not completely perfect, the more and more I type, I continually perfect my typing skills.
If I had stopped after the first day of typing the letter “a,” how would I know where all of the other letters were on the keyboard? But it was through the continuous training and practice that I got better.
That is what the topic is about today. Not thinking yourself to be perfect, but to continue on getting better and better. Say for example that a person hears about Christ for the first time, is baptized, and says, “Well, I’m perfect now.” While they still have many things that they need to work on in their life. Maybe they used to tell mis-truths about other people. That is something that they need to work on. Instead of falsehoods, they need to speak the truth. Maybe they let other things take precedent before spending time with God. Or maybe they forget to thank the Lord for everything He has given them; food, clothes, etc. They can work on keeping the Lord in their mind. There is always something that we can become better at.
A person needs to admit to themselves that they are not perfect. And although Jesus is the only one who is and can be completely perfect, that doesn’t mean that we should stop striving for perfection. Look at the apostle Peter. Peter wasn’t perfect. He was with Jesus, following His teachings, casting out devils, telling others about Christ. But he denied the Lord at the crucifixion. Later he was forgiven by the Lord, but that was something that he worked on in his life. Not being ashamed of Christ. He grew stronger in his faith, and later he was put into prison for his faith in Jesus.
There is always some part of our lives that we can improve and perfect. It is when someone believes that they are perfect that they stop trying to become better.
We are like an old house in need of repair. You might go through and fix all of the broken water pipes until they are all as good as new. But the house isn’t completely restored yet. You have all of the painting that needs to be done, wiring to fix, windows to seal. Bit by bit it can be slowly repaired, when you finish with one part, you move onto the next. You don’t fix one thing and it makes the whole house the same as new. It is an ongoing project.
None of us are perfect. We are a continual “work in progress” until the day we die. Never think that you are completely perfect, but strive each day for perfection!
In Christ,
Andrew
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