22 June 2005

Your Father in heaven is perfect

I think that in our culture the word 'perfect' is off-putting and forbidding. This article has it right; "Your heavenly Father is perfect! Now I’ll admit that the word perfect—so austere, so unattainable—might at first keep you at arm’s length. Anyone who had an overly reserved, emotionally distant father might certainly be intimidated by it."
In fact, I suspect that it's more than having distant earthly fathers; it's a cultural mood which associates perfection with things that are displayed, therefore untouchable and incapable of response or development. Quite hard to associate with love, then.
So what the author, Jim Carpenter, goes on to say is really helpful, especially the higtlighted bit:
"But don’t think of perfect as a total portrait of your Father. It is simply the color and light that illuminate His other features. Like love. Your Father loves you with perfect love. Or look at His wisdom. It’s perfect. He is perfectly faithful and perfectly forgiving. His guidance is perfect. His plans for your life are absolutely perfect for you."
The whole article is worth a look.

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