Our ward theme this year is “Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him” (taken from Moroni 10:32). We had an excellent lesson in Relief Society today, and I wanted to share some of the scriptures and quotes on the topic of perfection that stood out to me. I apologize if my notes are a bit of a jumble.
“Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and denyyourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.” (Moroni 10:32)
From this verse there are 2 steps to becoming perfect:
1) Repent
2) Love God, or in other words, develop Charity
Becoming Perfect before the Lord: “A Little Better Day by Day”
“We should try to walk each day so that our conscience would be void of offence before everybody… We must not allow ourselves to be discouraged whenever we discover our weakness.”
“There is no necessity for Latter-day Saints to worry over the things of this world. They will all pass away. Our hearts should be set on things above; to strive after that perfection which was in Christ Jesus, who was perfectly obedient in all things unto the Father, and so obtained His great exaltation and became a pattern unto His brethren. Why should we fret and worry over these temporal things when our destiny is so grand and glorious? If we will cleave unto the Lord, keep His commandments, pattern after His perfections and reach out unto the eternal realities of His heavenly kingdom, all will be well with us and we shall triumph and obtain the victory in the end.”
“Do not expect to become perfect at once. If you do, you will be disappointed. Be better today than you were yesterday, and be better tomorrow than you are today. The temptations that perhaps partially overcome us today, let them not overcome us so far tomorrow. Thus continue to be a little better day by day; and do not let your life wear away without accomplishing good to others as well as to ourselves.”
“Each last day or each last week should be the best that we have ever experienced, that is, we should advance ourselves a little every day, in knowledge and wisdom, and in the ability to accomplish good. As we grow older we should live nearer the Lord each following day.”
Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow, 2011. Becoming Perfect before the Lord: “A Little Better Day by Day”, Chapter 6.
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven isperfect” (Matt 5:48). Perhaps a better translation of this verse might be “Be ye therefore complete”–strive to become the best version of yourself you can be.
“And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them” (1 Nephi 3:7). Be determined to follow the Lord. Make sure your motives are pure, and things will work out. If you don’t want to do something, pray for the desire to want to do it!
In our quest for perfection, remember Grace: “The main idea of the word is divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ. It is through the grace of the Lord Jesus, made possible by His atoning sacrifice, that mankind will be raised in immortality, every person receiving his body from the grave in a condition of everlasting life. It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts” (Bible Dictionary-Grace).
Further Reading
Drops of Awesome by Daring Young Mom: “Every time you do something good, something kind, something productive, it’s a drop in your Bucket of Awesome. You don’t lose drops for every misstep. You can only build. You can only fill.”
Increased Capacity by Raising Lemons: the transition and growth from a newly-wed wife to a mom with 4 kids is impressive! “I don’t think God wants us to beat ourselves up if we are less than perfect and I don’t think he wants us to run ourselves into the ground trying to keep up with someone else’s capacity. All of us have different volumes on different days. But I do think he wants us to meet OUR fullest potential. I think he wants us to increase OUR capacity — so we can see what we are really capable of — so we can have those moments of pride in where we have been and where we are now. He wants to help us get there- baby steps at a time.”
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