But I am not contradicting myself or scripture when I say that Jesus was not perfect. Not like perfectionists strive for perfection anyway. Not in the way that we sometimes start thinking He was and that we should be. Jesus turned the dimmer switch down on His ability and knowledge when He took on flesh, although He never ceased to be God. He didn't open His eyes after He was born and say to Joseph, it's OK you didn't get a room. The barn is fine, and by the way Mother, I am a little hungry and cold. Could you wrap me warmer and feed me? He cried. Forget the lyrics to Away In A Manger. Jesus screamed like every baby.
He had to learn to talk, and I mean learn. He got words wrong and didn't say them right at first. Not every nail he hammered with His adopted dad went in straight. He didn't cut every stone the exact right size the first time. Not every cut in wood or stone was perfect every time. He had to learn to walk. He fell down. He scraped His knee and stubbed His toes.
He had to learn how to spin that dreidel, and I bet He didn't even win every game. For all we know, James was a much better dreidel player than his half-brother Jesus. The Word had to learn to read, and He had to walk to the local synagogue to study the scrolls of the Law and the Prophets and learn the scriptures He expounded on and taught so well later. He wasn't a computer or even an encyclopedia. He had to learn, and He misspelled words and got sums wrong in the process. My point is that Jesus was human and made mistakes. Not every rock He skipped went all the way across the pond. Some of them went straight under and sank. He spilled the milk when His little hands couldn't handle the cup.
Sometimes when we make mistakes we get upset and beat ourselves up as though we have sinned and failed morally. Mistakes are part of life. They are the way we learn and grow. We make a mistake and try again, learn from it, correct it and move on. The other day a woman pulled out in front of me. I don't think for a moment that she felt suicidal or maliciously tried to cut me off. She didn't see me, for whatever reason. Maybe she just missed me when she quickly glanced down the road. Sometimes I think there is a cloaking device active on the van. Maybe she was distracted. Maybe she was in a hurry and thought she had more room, misjudged the distances and speeds involved. Whatever. She made a mistake, and I had to slam on the brakes and slung groceries forward, breaking a jar of sauerkraut in the process. It still stinks, sigh. But she didn't sin against me.
Accidents and mistakes are not sin. Making a mistake in math is not a sin, even if it means that you end up bouncing a check. There may be consequences. If you drop a plate of food, you may make a mess, but you don't need to ask Daddy to forgive you. It's not a sin. We are not perfect in that sense. Well, of course, we're not perfect in any sense, not on this side of eternity. But when Jesus told us to be perfect even as Daddy in Heaven is perfect, that's not what He meant. It's OK not to know things. It's OK to have to learn. It's OK to stumble in the process of life. You don't have to get a perfect evaluation on every task at work to be in the will of God. Burning dinner is not a sin, and neither was the time I made the mistake of confusing baking soda and baking powder while making cornbread. It wasn't edible, but it wasn't a sin.
It's what happens after we mess up that matters. Don't shift blame. Acknowledge the mistake and learn from it. Don't get angry and throw a fit, like I briefly did after I realized the mistake of not listening to that voice that said it wasn't a good idea to place two glass jars of sauerkraut in the same bag. Don't feel like it was a sin or moral failure to forget something you needed to carry to work or an on a trip. Make the adjustment and be responsible enough to make a check list, or get everything out in advance and place where you won't forget it next time. But that said, it's not even a sin to make the same mistake twice. Aim for perfection in love and obedience to Daddy. With the rest, striving for perfection is part of doing our best, which is important. Do everything the best you can, as though you were doing it for Daddy, but don't think Daddy is disappointed in you if you make a mistake. Making mistakes does not lower your worth to Daddy, not even your sin does that. He loves you as you are, mistakes and all.
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