Becoming perfect before the
Lord; a Little Better Day by Day.
This was a favorite theme of President Snow. He often reminded the Saints of the
Lords command to be perfect.
Genesis 17:1
And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto
him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and
be thou perfect.
Matthew 5:48
He said:
We learn that the Lord appeared to
Abraham and made him very great promises, and that before he was prepared to
receive them a certain requirement was made of him, that he [Abraham] should
become perfect before the Lord. And the same requirement was made by the Savior
of his Disciples, that they should become perfect, even as He and His Father in
Heaven were perfect. This I conceive to be a subject that concerns the
Latter-day Saints;
When I looked at this lesson and saw the topic, I immediately
felt discouraged. I was thinking
how unqualified I was to teach this topic. So what I thought I would do was block out some time for
those sisters who are perfect to come and share their thoughts. Who would like to go first?
Many years ago when we lived in Seattle, a Relief Society
teacher asked the questions, “If you had enough time and worked really hard at
it, do you think you could get to where you could be perfect for a week?” I remember thinking, NO!! Everyone else must have had the same
reaction, because she eventually reduced her time frame to one second. At that point I felt pretty confident I
could manage it.
What are
some of the reasons we sometimes feel discouraged about achieving perfection?
1.
We may
know how difficult it is to change; we may have failed many times before.
“I’ll never do it again”, we
say—and then we do it. “Now I
really mean it. I’ll never do it
again.” And then we do it. “This
has got to stop. I swear I’ll
never do it again.” And we do it.
In this passage, Brother Wilcox is talking about addictive behaviors,
but it sounds so familiar to me for just everyday mistakes and weaknesses. “We fast, pray, seek blessings and
still wonder if the needed changes will ever occur.”
2.
There
are so many things entailed in the idea of perfection.
Our actions, the keeping of the
negative commandments
Our words
Our thoughts and intents
Our lack of actions, the keeping
of the positive commandments
Alma
12:14 warns:
For our words will condemn us, yea,
all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts
will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to
our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the
mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence.
3. The standard can seem too high
In 3 Nephi 27:27,
the Savior asks, Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? His answer:
Verily, I say unto you, even as I am.
When we think about who Christ is, the characteristics and
perfection he encompasses, it can seem daunting to be asked to be like him.
President Snow said:
We may think that we cannot live up
to the perfect law, that the work of perfecting ourselves is too
difficult. This may be true in
part, but the fact still remains that it is a command of the Almighty to us and
we cannot ignore it.
Despite the challenges, President Snow assured the saints that
through their own diligence and with the Lord’s help, they could obey that
command. He said:
So in reference to the Latter-day
Saints; they could not possibly come up to such a moral and spiritual standard
except through supernatural [heavenly] aid and assistance. Neither do we expect
that the Latter-day Saints, at once will or can conform to this law under all
circumstances. It requires time; it requires much patience and discipline of
the mind and heart in order to obey this commandment. And although we may fail
at first in our attempts, yet this should not discourage the Latter-day Saints
from endeavoring to exercise a determination to comply with the great
requirement.
The manual gives a story about President Snow to illustrate
this point, but last week, I was going through some papers and found this story
about Heber J. Grant that was so wonderful I decided to use it instead.
I
Have Learned to Sing (Ensign
Sept 1984)
President Snow also
said,
“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.”
For me, at least, I can’t always achieve this continual, linear
progress. So, I am encouraged by
the words of Brother Wilcox in the Continuous
Atonement, when he says:
When I slip, instead of saying, “I have
failed,” I try to say, “I have not yet succeeded.” Instead of saying, “Look how
far I have to go,” I try to say “Look how far God and Christ have brought me.”
Instead of saying, “I can’t keep my covenants,” I try to say, “I can’t do it
now, but with heaven’s help I can learn.”
We need to remember that perfection is not our immediate goal. Progress is.
Quote 1:
Elder Bruce C. Hafen has said that developing a Christlike character
“requires patience and persistence more than it requires flawlessness.”
Quote 2:
Elder Neal A. Maxwell said, “This is a gospel of grand expectations, but
God’s Grace is sufficient for each of us if we remember that there are no
instant Christians.”
A few weeks ago, Tricia gave a wonderful lesson on the Atonement. She taught that Christ has paid the
full price for our sins. Why,
then, are we given the commandments to show good works, and to become perfect?
1.
Nephi
27:19 And no unclean thing can enter into
his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be
those who have washed their garments
in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and
their faithfulness unto the end.
The limitations of this reason are that when we lived with God, we
WERE perfect, or at least we were sinless. If the requirement to live with God is to be perfect, why
did we leave?
1.
To gain a body
2.
Abraham 3:25: And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall
command them;
Since I was
small, I remember being taught that life was a test, ending with the judgment
day. The reality, and the reasons
we are commanded to be obedient and seek perfection are so much deeper and more
profound.
1.
D&C 52:4: And inasmuch as
they are faithful unto me, it shall be made known unto them what they shall do.
When we are faithful, we can avoid deception, find our mission on
earth.
2.
Luke 14:27 with
JST footnote: And
whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me,
cannot be my disciple. Wherefore, settle this in your hearts, that ye will do
the things which I shall teach, and command you.
When we understand that disciple means student,
we see that life is more like a school.
It may be a test, but it is open book, with limitless retakes.
Most importantly, we are here to grow in
knowledge and ability to become like God in order to progress.
Brother
Wilcox said the following:
Quote
3
“If our whole goal
were just to be in God’s presence again, why would we have left in the first
place? We were already with God in
the premortal existence, but were painfully aware that we were not like him
physically or spiritually. We
wanted to be like our Heavenly Parents and knew it was going to take a lot more
than just dressing up in their clothes as little children do. We needed to fill their shoes, not just
clomp around in them. The
atonement reconciles us with God so that we can again be with him and enjoy
sweet association, but how sweet can that association be if we remain unchanged? The goal is not just being with God, but being like God”.
Quote
4
“For a child learning
to walk, falling down might not be desirable, but the lessons learned from it
are. Similarly, before we came to
the world, God knew we had progressed as far as we were able without an earthly
experience. He could no longer
carry us by keeping us in his presence.
It was time for His children to learn how to walk on their won. That’s why He lovingly placed us here,
across the room, so to speak, and stepped just beyond our reach, all the while
beckoning us to come. He knew the tumbles that awaited us. He knew the ups and downs ahead. That’s why He planned from the very
start to send our older brother to hold our hands, lift us up, and guide us
across the room back to His outstretched arms. We left those arms crawling. We can return to them running.”
In order to return, some people see a long
checklist that must be completed before we get to Heaven. We do
those things not to earn or pay our way, but to become. All of these
commandments are all means to the real end, which is for each of us to become
like God and Christ.
Elder Tad R.
Callister said:
“The atonement was designed to do more
than restore us to the starting line, more than just wipe the slate clean. Its crowning purpose is to endow us with
power so that we might overcome each of our weaknesses and acquire the divine
traits that would make us like God.”
Through the atonement, Christ became our Redeemer. Brother Wilcox taught:
A redeemer is one who changes us for the
better, one who reforms and reshapes us.
Redemption is more than paying justice and bringing us everyone back to
God. It is mercifully giving us
the opportunity of being comfortable there. Not only can we go home, we can also feel at home. The atonement is fundamentally a
doctrine of human development.
As we discussed earlier in the lesson, no unclean thing can enter
God’s kingdom, but, as Brother Wilcox says,
No unchanged thing will even want to. Sinlessness is only one of God’s
attributes. There are many others
that must also be obtained.
Elder Dallin H
Oaks wrote,
“The final judgement is not just an
evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is an acknowledgement of the final
effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become.
These teachings are right in line with what President Snow taught many
years ago:
Now we are told by the Apostle
John, that “we are the sons of God, but it does not appear what we shall be:
but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see
him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even
as he, Christ is pure.”The
Latter-day Saints expect to arrive at this state of perfection; we expect to
become as our Father and God, fit and worthy children to dwell in his presence.
I love this doctrine, and find it so invigorating and
motivating. It is such a positive,
encouraging doctrine.
Nevertheless!! We still have to transition from the doctrine
to the application, which is still a challenge. Humans are resistant to change. Numerous studies have shown this truth. If you have ever tried a diet, you know
it.
I recently read an article on diet. The author was a personal trainer who grew frustrated by the
last of lasting success in his clients.
What he finally found worked was to have his clients focus on making one
small change, such as taking a supplement every morning, and when they had
perfected that, choose a new goal.
President Snow also recommends this path to perfection. He calls these areas “spheres”. For example, if we are perfect in
paying tithing, we are perfect in that sphere.
Since working on each narrow commandment individually would
take an enormous amount of time, I thought of 5 broader commandments which,
when mastered, would cover many smaller things.
1.
Judgment.
Many years ago, I was running a half marathon, the Hobble
Creek Half in Mapleton. It was one
of my first races I’d ever done.
As we started out, I found myself running by a woman who stood out to me
because she had a large bottom that was out of proportion to her body. That is terrible to say, I know. After a few minutes, this large
bottomed girl asked me to tell her the pace. When I told her, she thanked me, and said her watch wasn’t
working, and she wanted to make sure she stayed on pace for a 1:45 finish. Well, I was floored. I was astonished. That is an 8-minute mile pace, much
faster than I could hope to finish the race. Because of her shape I had judged her to be a slower runner
than me, but she soon left me in the dust. Pretty soon, I had Grandpa passing me on the left, and some
skinny girl with a locked-kneed stride on the right. Pretty quickly, I went from judging others’ potential
abilities and just focusing on finishing the race myself.
We are all in the same race. We are all hoping to cross the finish line. When we judge others, it just takes
energy and focus away from our own task.
Ask for
examples.
2.
Avoid offense.
When Joseph went to Carthage to deliver himself
up to the pretended requirements of the law, two or three days previous to his
assassination, he said:
“I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but
I am calm as a summer’s morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards
God, and towards all men.
President
Snow said:
How can a Latter-day
Saint feel justified in himself unless he is seeking to purify himself even as
God is pure, unless he is seeking to keep his conscience void of offense before
God and man every day of his life?
We are always surrounded by the potential to give
offense. We need to be careful in
thinking how what we do or say could be interpreted. On the other hand, we need to be careful not to take
offense, because it likely wasn’t intended, and even if it was, holding on to
that will primarily hurt us.
Ask for examples.
3.
Humility
Humility recognizes how different we are from
Christ, and helps us desire to make that difference less apparent.
D&C
52:17 says:
And again, he that
trembleth under my power shall be made strong, and shall bring
forth fruits of praise and wisdom, according to the
revelations and truths which I have given you.
So, with humility, we shall be made strong, and
bring forth good fruits.
Ask for examples.
4. Help others on their way
D&C 81:5
Wherefore, be faithful; stand in the
office which I have appointed unto you; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.
Recently, I was in St. George with my children. We were enjoying climbing on the red rock at a wonderful park along the way when my kids discovered a narrow, about 12 inch wide slot in the rock. They made their way through the slot several times, and then asked me to join them. Part way through, I panicked that I was going to get stuck, and would have turned back. However, with one child and one behind encouraging me on, I was able to finish going through. Later, climbing down a particularly steep area, I was able to help these children find safe footholds to make it down.
As we all seek ways to help others on their way, we all benefit.
Ask for comments.
5.
Focus on our
objective, or in Steven Covey terms, begin with the end in mind.
President Snow
said:
One
of the chief difficulties that many suffer from is, that we are too apt to
forget the great object of life, the motive of our Heavenly Father in sending
us here to put on mortality, as well as the holy calling with which we have
been called; and hence, instead of rising above the little transitory things of
time, we too often allow ourselves to come down to the level of the world
without availing ourselves of the divine help which God has instituted, which
alone can enable us to overcome them. We are no better than the rest of the
world if we do not cultivate the feeling to be perfect, even as our Father in
heaven is perfect.
Tell
story Finding Joy in Life (April 2013
Ensign)
This story is a good illustration of how good people can lose
their way, and possibly worse by losing sight of their end goal.
Quote 5
Elder
Neal A Maxwell taught that when people fall away due to lack of
self-discipline, it is because “their perspective shrinks”. In Elder Maxwell’s biography we learn
how he maintained his own self-discipline and bridled his passions by
maintaining a sense of mission.
(Brad Wilcox, Continuous Atonement)
This sense of mission can also help keep us from becoming
discouraged when we fail.
Quote 6
President
Snow taught:
We
doubtless, many of us, walk from day to day and from week to week, and from
month to month, before God, feeling under no condemnation, comporting ourselves
properly and seeking earnestly and in all meekness for the Spirit of God to
dictate our daily course; and yet there may be a certain time or times in our
life, when we are greatly tried and perhaps overcome; even if this be so, that
is no reason why we should not try again, and that too with redoubled energy
and determination to accomplish our object.
Quote 7
Elder
Gerald N. Lund wrote:
Remember
that one of Satan’s strategies, especially with good people, is to whisper in
their ears: “if you are not perfect, you are failing” This is one of his most
effective deceptions…We should recognize that God is please with every effort
we make—no matter how faltering—to better ourselves.
I got this wonderful story from my friend Melanie Wilkes. It is called The Cracked Pot: A Story For Anyone Who’ Not Quite Perfect
A waterbearer in India
had two large pots, one hung on each end of a pole, which she carried across
her neck.
One of the pots had a crack in it. While the other pot was perfect, and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the mistress's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
One of the pots had a crack in it. While the other pot was perfect, and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the mistress's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years
this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of
water to her master's house.
The perfect pot was
proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the
poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was
able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of
what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day
by the stream: "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to
you."
Why?" asked the
bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"
"I have been
able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack
in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your mistress's house.
Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full
value from your efforts," the pot said.
The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in her compassion she said, "As we return to the mistress's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."
Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some.
But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.
The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?
“That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them.
“For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my mistress's table. Without you being just the way you are, she would not have this beauty to grace her house."
Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots.
But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. We've just got to take each person for what they are, and look for the good in them. There's a lot of good out there.
The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in her compassion she said, "As we return to the mistress's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."
Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some.
But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.
The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?
“That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them.
“For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my mistress's table. Without you being just the way you are, she would not have this beauty to grace her house."
Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots.
But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. We've just got to take each person for what they are, and look for the good in them. There's a lot of good out there.
I want to turn
again to the words of Alma, this time Alma 41:3
And it is requisite with the justice of God that men
should be judged according to
their works; and if their
works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that
they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which
is good.
While nearly the same as the scripture previous (Alma 12:14), now we can
see that if our desires are to be perfect, even if we fall short, that will be
taken into account for our benefit.
Close with:
“We ought
to feel in our hearts that God is our Father, and that while we make mistakes
and are weak yet if we live as nearly perfect as we can all will be well with
us.”
