December 22

Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. — Jas 1:4 BSB

The word "perfect" in Scripture, when applied to a saint of God, doesn’t mean sinless or spotless holiness, as we often think of perfection. Instead, it refers to one who has been matured and ripened in the life of God—no longer a child but a grown adult in spiritual maturity. Just as a tree that has grown to its full stature is said to have reached perfection, so when the Spirit of God has worked the fruit of patience in your soul, you are perfect in regard to that work, for it is God’s work in you. In this sense, you are "entire," possessing all that this grace gives, and "lacking nothing" that this grace can communicate.

To fully submit to the will of God, to be completely lost in conformity to it, is the highest level of Christian maturity here on earth. Anyone who reaches that level lacks nothing, for they have all things in Christ. What, then, is the greatest height of grace a soul can reach? Where did grace shine forth most clearly in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ? Was it not in the dark garden of Gethsemane and on the cross? Wasn’t the human nature of Jesus more visibly filled with the Spirit and more fully displaying every grace in those moments of suffering than when He was transfigured on the mount?

In the same way, there is more grace shown in the heart of a saint of God who, under trial and temptation, can say, "Your will be done," and submit to the disciplining hand of the Father, than when they are basking in the full light of His presence. We often get it wrong by longing for constant enjoyment, instead of recognizing that true grace teaches us to submit to God’s will, whether we are in the valley or on the mountaintop.