Be Ye Therefore Perfect

In the final chapter of the Book of Mormon, Moroni 10, the last prophet of the book discusses some of the most basic concepts of personal spirituality.  He reviews the concepts of faith, hope and charity; as discussed in my last entry, he talks about following the promptings of the Holy Ghost in determining whether the writings of the prophets are true; he writes several columns on spiritual gifts and completes his work with a discourse on becoming perfect.

We often excuse our behavior by saying something like, “Sorry, I’m not perfect,” or “Nobody’s perfect.”  We are taught that it is virtually impossible to be perfect in this life.  As Paul expressed it to the Roman saints, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) Many, as a result of their realization that we cannot ever be perfect, tire of trying and decide that they may as well indulge in all those sins of which they have been deprived.  The result is always disastrous.  Inevitably, hearts are broken, lives are wasted, and by the time they discover that this path is leading them nowhere, their children are not indoctrinated in the essence of the Gospel and are lost. 

Why would Christ, then, have stated that famous phrase, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect”?  If it is impossible, why did he put that before us? Much has been written on the subject and my insights are most likely no more valuable, but it has brought comfort to me to read the words of Moroni in this regard.  Here we find that while we cannot be perfect, we can be made perfect.  His invitation is the same that missionaries and members of the Church are commanded to give throughout all the world, “Come unto Christ and be perfected in Him.”
 

You will recall that the commandment to be perfect followed the Sermon on the Mount.  It was there that Christ expressed the need for us to step up our obedience such as don’t be angry with thy brother, but be reconciled to him.  The old law was “Thou shalt not kill.” Where the old law was “Thou shalt not commit adultery” Christ said we must not look lustfully at a woman.  The old law was that you put away a wife by a writ of divorcement, but Christ said we commit adultery when we divorce and remarry unless she has committed adultery.  Instead of love thy neighbor and hate thy enemy, He said love, bless, do good to and pray for our enemy. Then, after we find Christ in our hearts will he make us perfect.

There is something in each of us that says, “You are made for greater things.  There is more to you than this mundane life.”  God has placed it in you and Christ will help you find it.  Satan also knows about this and uses it to our disadvantage.  It is the reason we seek to know the doctrine of Christ, but it is also the reason some abandon their families and go out in search of themselves.  One finds peace, joy and eternal perspective; the other finds that no matter what the world has to offer, it is not enough.  It cannot satisfy, but until they turn to Christ, they either continue to try divergent paths, or they settle for mediocrity. 

When we find the doctrine of Christ, we find that it takes constant vigilance to retain that peace, so we read, study and meditate every day.  C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity has an interesting perspective.  He says that we got our body from our parents, but that does not mean it will just stay there if we do nothing about it.  We can lose it from neglect or even purposely end it. It has to be constantly nourished and built up, but keep in mind that you are not creating your life, you are only keeping up something that came from someone else.   

Similarly, we have to realize that the testimony of Christ (what CSL calls the Christ-life) is not of our own creation, but is a gift from God.  We can lose it with neglect or even kill it because it is inconvenient to the way we choose to live.  When we nourish it we discover a great gift has been given.  It is not something we are creating any more than we created our own bodies.

We know that just because we have the amazing gift of life from our parents doesn’t mean we will never be hurt, but it means that if we are hurt there are elements within us and outside us that can provide healing. Similarly, a man or woman of Christ knows that just because we have been given this great gift does not mean that we will go wrong, but it does mean that we can repent and pick ourselves up each time we stumble no matter how many times or the severity of the fall.

In many ways we are like refugees and our vision is limited.  In his autobiography, Elder F. Enzio Buche talks about the aftermath of World War II as a young German soldier trying to return home.  He had to travel 300 miles without any means of transportation and no food.  The only shelter was a small tent with no floor and only a blanket for warmth and protection from the cold, wet nights.  It was constantly raining and cold.  He says that the only aspiration he had in life at that time besides finding something to eat was that he might someday own a tent with a rubber floor.  To aspire to a house and a car, a refrigerator and a store of food were beyond imagination.

So it is with us.  We aspire to so much less than we are capable of becoming, but our vision of our possibilities begins to expand well beyond our limited vision when we obtain the vision that God gives us as we work daily to build our Christ lives – our testimonies, our understanding of his principles and our appreciation of the great gift we have been given.Today, we cannot even imagine perfection, but through our Christ-given vision we begin to see that we are going to be perfect with all that status implies.  If you have ever felt the inner joy of love, perhaps on your wedding day or the birth of a child, magnify that feeling a thousand times and imagine that it will be yours forever, never to be lost.  Perfection is beyond even that.  Our limited vision makes us aspire to less, but Christ will not give us less.  It is the only way we can satisfy that feeling within us that says, "You are greater than this."