Matthew 19:16-21 – “Once a man came to Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he asked, ‘what good thing must I do to receive eternal life?’ ‘Why do you ask me concerning what is good?’ answered Jesus. ‘There is only One who is good. Keep the commandments if you want to enter life.’ ‘What commandments?’ he asked. Jesus answered, ‘Do not commit murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not accuse anyone falsely; respect your father and your mother; and love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ ‘I have obeyed all these commandments,’ the young man replied. ‘What else do I need to do?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me.’” Jesus’ reply really upset this young man who wanted so badly to be without flaw. Are we, like him, seeking perfection right now? No matter how hard we may try, we are all going to sin and fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). That does not in any way present us a free pass to sin, which was Paul’s recurring theme to the Romans. Asking God’s grace and forgiveness is not just for when we deliberately sin. As Jesus points out here, we are to follow God’s commandments, which were literally and figuratively carved into stone. But as we have not achieved perfection yet, we’re given opportunities to confess and ask forgiveness whether we realize we’ve transgressed or not because, sure as shootin’, we have. We carry enough burdens and crosses without looking for more to pile on, so beating ourselves up for human weakness and frailty is nonsense. (The world tries to do that for us.) This is why God grants us the choice to seek Him out, go to Him with a sincerely contrite heart, and plead His lovingkindness to be poured onto us, promising to try not to do it again. Perfection? Not today, but someday…