But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: … to walk, even as He walked. 1 John 2:5-6

No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:12

God is perfect, and His love is perfect. It cannot be perfected in Himself. We who know Christ are perfected by Him. As God invests His love in us, and as we obey God’s Word, He produces fruit, even the fruit of the Spirit in us.

What does it look like? We will walk even as Christ walked.

·        Jesus showed love and compassion to the Samaritans – a people group that even the disciples seemed at first to have no compassion for – and to Gentiles: A Syrophoenician woman and a Roman centurion.

·        Christ and His disciples traversed the Sea of Galilee to save a demon possessed man.

·        While being hurried by others, Christ stopped to show compassion on a sick and distraught woman.

·        Though we don’t have the power to heal the sick and disabled as Christ did, we can show the same compassion towards them.

·        Jesus led His disciples through many situations that were uncomfortable for them, but Christ used those situations to perfect them.

As God perfects us, we will walk in Christ’s steps. We will walk in His Word. We will have sincere grace and love in our hearts for others, especially our brothers and sisters in the church. We will allow God to work in our lives even through uncomfortable situations. 

Ron Cox - Director of HOPE Ministry