If you read the context in which Jesus said to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect, you will find that He was talking about loving your enemies. (Matthew 5:43-48). If you read Luke's account, you find Jesus saying to be merciful as our Father in heaven is merciful (Luke 6:36). The Pharisees tried to be perfect in that they even tithed their mint, anise, and cummin. Yet Jesus called them hypocrites, for they "neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith" Matthew 23:23.
As we can see, perfection isn't something we do, it's about having God's character of love and mercy in our hearts. It doesn't matter how talented and smart you are, if you don't have love, everything you do will be pointless (1 Corinthians 13:2). "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5:5. Yet this fruit of the Holy Spirit isn't something we can conjure up on our own, we can only have it as long as we abide in Christ. Jesus says: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." John 15:5
Character perfection isn't a destination, it's a growth process. When a plant grows, you can't tell that it's growing by looking at it, but over time you can eventually see the changes (Mark 4:27-28). As we grow in Christ (The Vine), God the Father prunes us so we may bear more fruit (John 15:2). God cuts away the thorns of sin from our hearts so that the seed of His word can grow (Matthew 13:22).
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 1 John 1:8. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14. "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Corinthians 3:18
When we behold the glory of God's character, we will say like Isaiah: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.” Isaiah 6:5. Our prayers will be like that of the publican who said, "God, be merciful to me a sinner!" Luke 18:13. This doesn't mean living in fear of being judged, for "perfect love casts away fear" 1 John 4:18.
This growth process of perfection never ends, we will never claim to have arrived. We will keep going forward from perfection to perfection "The path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day" Proverbs 4:18
Notice what Paul says here: "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:12-14
When we understand that we can only find perfection in Christ, we won't compare ourselves with others (2 Corinthians 10:12). We won't be so quick to judge others because we will see that we also fall short in the same things that others do (Romans 2:1-2). Rather than pointing out the speck in another's eyes, we will ask God to help us with the log in our eyes (Matthew 7:5, 2 Corinthians 13:5). Instead of putting others down, we will seek to restore them. "Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted." Galatians 6:1.
Biblical perfection is about being united in Christ with fellow believers (John 17:20-23). Love is the bond of perfection (Colossians 3:14). "If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us." 1 John 4:12
Also see: Quotes on Christian Growth
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