"Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you." 2 Corinthians 13:11 NIV
Paul encouraged the Church to live their lives in such a way as to be perfect. In an earlier letter to the Church at Corinth, he wrote them, "Run in such a way as to win." (1 Cor 9:24). He recognizes that we all are imperfect, but our goal should be to wake up every morning knowing our sins are forgiven, God's mercies are new every day and that we are to "go for it" again.
In Galatians Ch 2, he reminds us that even though perfection is the aim, we all miss the mark - even those as accomplished in the Christian faith as the likes of Peter and Barnabas. If those guys messed up, surely we will (and do) fall flat on our face too! But that never should stand in the way of our our aim.
Don't forget about the last sentence of verse 11. When we aim for perfection, the promise is that the God of love and peace will be with us. That's all the motivation I need! How 'bout you?
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