Friday, April 12, 2013

Lorenzo Snow Lesson #6: Becoming Perfect Before the Lord; a Little Better Day by Day


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

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

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.
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.

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.”

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