“Dear Abby,” wrote a woman asking advice, “I’m forty-four years old and would like to meet a man my age with no bad habits.” To which Abby replied, “So would I!”
Of course, neither Dear Abby nor the woman who sought her advice will ever meet a man with “no bad habits.” Mr. or Mrs. Perfect simply does not exist. We’re all flawed human beings — no exceptions. In Biblical language, we’re all sinners.
As the story goes, two old childhood friends meet at a reunion. “Why is it that you never got married?” one friend asks the other. “To tell you the truth,” the man replies, “I spent my entire youth looking for the perfect woman.
“In my 20s, I met a beautiful and intelligent woman, but she was unkind. In my 30s, I met a very kind woman, but we had no common interests. And over the years, I met one woman after another who seemed just right — but there was always something missing. Then just recently I met her! She was intelligent. She was generous. She was kind. We had everything in common. In fact, she was perfect.” The other man was puzzled. “What happened? Why didn’t you marry her?” he asks. “Sad to say,” the other replies, “it seems she was looking for the perfect man!”
“Be perfect, even as your Heavenly Father is perfect,” Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. That’s our goal. That’s our ultimate destiny. That’s what we’re moving toward and growing into when we follow Jesus’ direction. We’re in the process of realizing our full human potential. But none of us has arrived yet. No one is blameless — not your best friend, nor your worst enemy — and most assuredly, not me.
We are all called to grow in the grace of Christ everyday. Some moments we will feel we are doing great, and the very next moment we feel that we have fallen from grace. There are many ups and down in our journey of growing in grace… but keep at it knowing that the love of God surrounds us every moment of every day. We know that we are growing in grace when wee realize that we love God more and love our neighbor without judging or consequence
Here and now, if the question of who you are and what we ought to be doing with our life has you “up a tree,” so to speak, pray to Jesus and then listen to hear Him whisper tenderly, “Salvation has come to this child of God!”
And so, we pray: Lord, boy do I know I have not arrived… not even close. But I do realize most moments that Your Grace and Love covers me and my every move. Thank you for walking with me and loving me… yes, even me. Amen.
Grace and Peace
Steve
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The Journey 