Hosanna Restoration Church

PROPER VS PERFECT

Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you. (2Corinthians 13:11)

What is proper? Proper, can vary from person to person, state to state, nation to nation, house to house, neighborhood to neighborhood; the list goes on. Some things are perfectly proper to one may be awful to another.

Well, God set the perfect standard. He is our one foundation! As we all know, the foundation is what holds up the house. Before we knew Christ, we chose our own proper, and our proper moved around. From time to time our proper may have digressed and at other times it progressed depending very much on our location and surroundings. When we switch people or location, we switch “proper” as well.

As most of us know, God created all things perfect for His ultimate creation, man. And then the perfect for His perfect man, woman. God chose to give them a choice and they chose wrong. They knew better. They just took bad advice, and that bad advice was not proper, but when their perfect understanding was reduced to what the devil said was proper and perfectly alright in his sight; pop goes the weasel. You may or may not know that hit from the jack in the box toys, but if we go round and round in the wrong place and choose the wrong proper, something is going to give.

God gives a standard that sticks to perfect. There are a lot of things that might seem ok, but do they measure up to God’s more perfect way? Yes, I know that no one is perfect, but just because we are still being perfected, we can be searching for the most perfect way.

Nowadays, we can google any product that we need or do not need. We can research to find the best and read the opinions of what others think. One person might love a product and the next may have experienced nothing but bad. Wow, what do you do with that? Usually, we keep searching. Sometimes we search until we find the report we want to hear!

Does that sound familiar? We can search the scriptures that same way. We can pray that same way. Sometimes people search for a church or fellowship that way as well. They might like some people and not like other people. They may sense the Lord choosing one thing but move on until they like it and feel like it is ok with God. It may seem proper, but what about God’s perfect?

In my life, proper was a bit of a roller coaster. When I was blessed to meet Jesus, I found the Kings Highway was the only place of real peace. If I settle for ok, or proper, not bad, or good enough, it just does not work. It is just not right.

In Romans chapter 12, we are instructed to present ourselves to God where perfect is found. Now in 2 Corinthians we are instructed to be perfect. The standard for all comfort, love, and the only place to find true peace, is in the confidence that God is with us. We can allow the perfect to guide our hearts and minds. It is the only proper thing to do.