On June 2, 2010, MLB pitcher Armando Galarraga was one out away from a perfect game: no hits, no walks, no errors. An easy ground ball was hit to the first baseman who tossed the ball to Galarraga, who was covering the first base bag. His catch clearly beat the runner to the bag for the final out of the game, but a veteran umpire called the runner safe, therefore ending Galarraga’s perfect game. This mistake showed that even the veteran umpire wasn’t perfect. And, in reality, none of us are.
Every one of us makes mistakes. We all make misjudgments, bad calls and show our imperfections in a variety of ways. But, there was one Man who lived the only perfect life in history: Jesus Christ.
More than 2,000 years ago, Jesus lived a life of perfection here on an imperfect earth. Everything He did was perfect. He spoke all the right words at the right times, did all the right actions, and perfectly demonstrated God’s character and love.
On March 14th, 2011, I was one serve away from a perfect game. After winning 11 perfect matches in a row, I only needed one more to have a perfect game. I was shaking so badly that I could barely hold my racquet. With the whole tennis facility watching me, with a score of 40 all, I stepped up, tossed the ball in the air, and right when I made contact with the ball I knew I had blown my chance at a perfect game. My serve went wide. I ended up winning the match 6-0, 6-1 instead of 6-0, 6-0. It was a great game, but not perfect.
Be Ye Perfect in Jesus Christ
This experience made me more aware of how amazing it is that Jesus lived a perfect life. It is truly amazing that in all the turmoil and negativity of a sin-filled world, He still lived perfectly. He didn’t tremble at the thought of perfection. He didn’t even second-guess Himself. He knew that everything He was doing was exactly right.
While our goal every day should be to strive for Jesus’ model of holy perfection, we must understand that we will never be perfect in the sense of never making a mistake. We are all sinners, and we will make daily errors in actions, words, and thoughts. The closest we will get to perfection is by having a relationship with Jesus Christ – the One who made the perfect sacrifice of His life to save us from our sins.
So, What’s The Play Call?
Yes, by all means, continue to aim for Christ-like perfection. But, focus more on cultivating a healthy personal relationship with Jesus, willing to repent to Him for the sins that you do commit. Doing that will bring you as close to perfection as humanly possible. Think about it.
- Do you strive for perfection in life, sports, or anything else you do?
- What is your standard for perfection? Is it Jesus? If not, what is it and where does your standard come from?
- How should you react when you sin? (Specifically think about conviction, repentance, grace, and forgiveness.)
- What can you do to better stay on Jesus’ path of perfection?
