Matthew 19:21
Jesus Answers the Rich Young Man
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Matthew 5:48
Jesus Wants Us Perfect
48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Luke 23:34
On Perfect Forgiveness
34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
This is a very tough question for us...Can or do you love someone enough to give them the thing you most dearly to you?...For the sake of another, can are you able to give up that thing or those things that you cherish the most?...This is the lesson Jesus is teaching us...We see it is very hard...It is hard to let go of what we hold to and think as security, reputation, our personal and sentimental treasures, and our material possessions we hold on to the tightest...It is not only hard for the rich young man, but hard for many of us...
C. S. Lewis in The Joyful Christian puts it this way: "The Christian way is different: harder and easier. Christ says, 'Give me all. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want you—No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent, as well as the ones you think wicked—the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours.'"...
Jesus does not want part of us, He wants all of us...He wants us to reach our grand potential with Him...He wants us to be perfect...When an imperfection meets and melds with perfection the perfection becomes imperfect...Think of pure perfect gold, meeting with a very small amount of another metal or ore...When the two metals are mixed the pure gold becomes imperfect...And according to Lewis Jesus does not want a small part of us or a large part of us, He wants all of us...It is an all or nothing invitation...It is an invitation and a choice we make...This invitation is given us by God through His free will love for us...The choice is that Jesus wants us to be like Him...He is teaching us how to be like Himself...I understand Lewis in saying that this is hard...I do not understand what he means by saying it is "easier"...
Jesus wants us perfect...He practiced this...He tells us and teaches us to love our enemies...When His enemies are taking Him to the cross to torture Him and kill Him, He prays for them...Jesus certainly practiced and did what He preached...
When we cannot give everything and hold on to the wrong treasures, we cannot pray effectively, and be effective -let alone pray for an enemy who wants to kill us...We need help in getting to perfect and perfection...Jesus loves us...He wants us...He wants us to be perfect...Our only way to the Kingdom, our only way to perfection, and our only way to His Father is Jesus...The only way I can ever be perfect is being with Jesus, and Him somehow give me something from Him (which I currently do not understand) that will make me perfect...What I divinely need will come from Him...I know I cannot do this myself, without His help...