The Image of Perfection

Tonight was the first time in a while that I had the opportunity to teach the middle school Bible study. Since Mr. Richard is back in school, I'm back to doing the lesson on Wednesday nights. Mr. Richard prepares questions and Scripture for us to talk about each week. This week, we talked about Matthew 5:1-12~

1"When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

3 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

10 Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.' "

Now, this passage has a whole bunch of things in it. It's a list of characteristics that a person should strive to have. When reading this before, it had only occurred to me as that, as simply just a list of good personality traits. What I realized upon reading it and talking about it tonight was that it is the essence of Christ.

Think about it a moment, Christ mourned, Christ was gentle and meek, Christ hungered for and obtained righteousness. Christ was mercy. He had a pure heart, encouraged peace amongst his followers. And Christ was persecuted. The last two verses are really what stood out like never before. Christ was not only insulted, persecuted, and falsely accused, but He was killed, because He was righteous and truthfully claimed to be God. Yet, He rejoiced and was glad, because he saved us so that we could share His great reward in heaven.

We can all strive to be like Christ by looking at this list as a guideline. This list is the image of perfection because Christ is perfect. We will not be able to obtain all of these qualities until we reach heaven, of course, but they are something to strive for. Follow the Image of Perfection.

Follow Christ. :)