The Half-Truth of Perfection

Song for today: The Love of God/Artist: David Phelps, Guy Penrod & Joy Gardner

I recently made a little note card. I do this from time-to-time. The purposes usually vary between doing it for Scripture memory or to confront an untrue belief (which is a combination of both purposes because the untrue belief is replaced with Scripture). One of my goals recently has been to memorize one Scripture each week about one of God's attributes. So this week's card did all three of those.

The one I made this week starts out with the current belief: God is impossible to please because He is perfect. Then I literally leave some white space on the card and draw a stop sign and list the truth below it. In this case I listed two Scriptures: Truth: In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 Jn. 4:10 NASB) But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:8 NASB)

The current belief is a half-truth. God is impossible to please and He is perfect. But as the Scriptures indicate, He has provided what I need to please Him and fellowship with Him. Outside of His provision there would be no hope. God didn't change, he humiliated Himself and gave me what I need.

The application here goes beyond my relationship with God to my relationships with others. I think we are all probably impossible to perfectly please. But in love we give to each other our approval and commitment to care and provide. It was two pretty heavy moments for me as I made these connections. The first, that yes it was impossible to please God but that He had given me everything I needed to be justified in His sight. Secondly, that I may have frequently disappointed my parents and other loved ones in my life, but in love they have made a conscious decision to give me their love. I want to make sure I model and communicate this to my own wife and children and so demonstrate in my own life what I have experienced from God and in fact be a living illustration for my children of God's wondrous grace and mercy.

An interesting connection to explore later is that out of love and concern God will chasten, train, instruct, rebuke, correct me as I will my children. It is a demonstration of love, not evidence of its absence.