What Does God Require?

Think about your friends and family for a minute. Do any of them seem perfect? Is there someone who gets perfect grades or can play a sport perfectly? Who do you know who can create picture-perfect art or can play music without missing a note?

Have you ever tried to be perfect?

When we hear the word perfect we think of something that doesn’t have flaws or someone who can do something without making mistakes. We may know people who are really good at doing something, but no one except God is absolutely perfect.

Did you know that because God is perfectly holy He requires us to be perfect?

When God created the first man and woman, they were perfect. But it didn’t stay that way. They chose to disobey God, and sin entered the world. Sin is anything that we think, say or do that disobeys God. Because of sin, we can never be perfect.

Let’s read what Jesus told His disciples about this in the Sermon on the Mount. Can you help me find Matthew, chapter 5, verse 48? The book of Matthew is in the New Testament.

That might be hard to hear, but God understands you and knows you better than you know yourself. God knows you make mistakes, and He knows you sin. So what did Jesus mean when He said we should be perfect?

When Jesus said we must be perfect, He was talking about growing in our faith and making God’s character a part of our everyday life.

Think about it this way. When you were first born could you walk, talk or feed yourself? Of course not! You watched and learned from the people around you. You were and are still growing!

When we start following Jesus, we are like spiritual babies. God wants us to grow up in our faith and in our relationship with Jesus. We learn Who He is and what He is like. We learn how to talk with Him and how to be like Him. Just like we grow up in our bodies, we should also grow up in our relationship with God.

As we grow up in our faith, we become more like Him. Sin still affects everything we think, say and do. But don’t worry. Jesus came to Earth to die for us. And when He rose from the grave, He defeated sin! God requires perfection, and we can be perfect in God’s eyes because of Jesus!