For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? […] Therefore you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:46, 48).

For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall [must] be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:46-48). This scripture ends dramatically with a command to be perfect, that is, to be complete, fully mature, lacking nothing! Why does the Lord command us to love perfectly? How could Jesus say to us, “you shall [must] be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect?” (Matthew 5:48). He does so “that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). This imperative to love as our Heavenly Father loves is a command of the Lord that demands our attention and a proper, unavoidable, and obligatory response to godliness.

Before Christ commands us to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect, He outlines the difference between God’s love and human love when He says, “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?” (Matthew 5:46-47). Human love is imperfect, and it is expressed when there is something to be gained, as compensation, or as a counterbalance for another’s action. But the Father’s love is perfect, complete, and lacks nothing; it is not predicated on conditions, and it does not depend upon the right actions of others. He blesses the evil and the good, the just and the unjust. Since we are His sons, we must do exactly as our Father does! The Father’s Love is borne out of His own nature and character! It is who He is, for God is Love!