Be Ye Therefore Perfect

 

 

Be ye therefore perfect,
even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.   (Matt 5:48)

I'm pretty sure this request is beyond me. WAY out of my reach.
Perfection. Unattainable. But whose definition am I comparing myself to?

Nephi has some of the same feelings: "Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea , my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities. I am compassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me."
(2 Nephi 4:17-18)

Valiant Nephi. A prophet of God. Feeling the same way I do - will I ever get it right?

This doesn't even begin to hold him back: "I will go and do the things which the Lord has 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)

A way prepared.

What is the thing we are trying to accomplish?
 To become something different.  A journey meant to change us. Perfect, but not as the world defines perfection. Better than anything worldly. Perfect like our Father. Step by step he leads us.......

He gave us the first basic steps through Moses. Ten commandments. Baby steps to prepare us for the higher law which he would teach us personally.
The next steps he gave at his great Sermon on the Mount, eight Beatitudes, a higher law. All steps, both the lower and the higher law, meant to teach us how to live the two great commandments. To help us understand how we should treat God as well as each other.
 



The Two Great Commandments

Matthew 22:37–40

 



1. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.
 2. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
 

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

 

 Both the first four commandments and the first four Beatitudes teach us how to show our love for God:

(Mostly)Thou shalt nots:   1.No Gods before me 2.No graven images 3.No taking God’s name in vain 4.Remember my day, the Sabbath, and keep it  holy

Blessed ares:   1.The poor in spirit- feeling ourselves as spiritually needy and ever dependent upon the Lord for all our needs. Realizing that no day should pass without fervent prayer of thanksgiving, for guidance and forgiveness and strength sufficient for each days need. Being humble and teachable      2.They that mourn- 'godly sorrow that worketh repentence' and wins for the penitent a forgiveness of sins and forbids a return to the deed of which he mourns       3.The meek- humbly patient, as under provocation from others, one who has the courage of his moral convictions despite worldly pressures, strong with self-mastery. Looks to the Lord for His strength rather than his own      4.They that hunger and thirst after righteousness - spiritual hungering and thirsting that leads us to seek the spirit and induces worship on the Lord's Day wherever we are. It is that which prompts fervent prayer and leads  our feet to holy temples and bids us be reverent therein

The remaining commandments and Beatitudes teach us how to love each other:

(Mostly) Thou shalt nots:                                           Blessed ares:

5. Honour thy father and thy mother 6. No killing 7. No adultery. 8. No stealing 9. No bearing false witness against thy neighbour. 10. No coveting

5. The pure in heart for they shall see God - the pure in heart will love his neighbor for the potential growth and good they can see in him   6.The merciful- "Our salvation rests on the mercy we show to others"   7.The peacemakers- "they shall be called the children of God"   8.They which are persecuted for His name's sake- patient in adversity, quick to forgive, quick to love

 

The Beatitudes have another name:

                      A Constitution for a Perfect Life

 

The prophet Harold B. Lee also described them as the preparation necessary for entrance into the kingdom of heaven. The Savior called each of these laws, "Blessed."

What does it mean to be blessed?

"Blessedness is defined as being higher than happiness. Happiness comes from without and is dependent on circumstances; blessedness is an inward fountain of joy in the soul itself, which no outward circumstances can seriously affect." (The Life and Teachings of Jesus & his Apostles, pg 60)

 

President Joseph Fielding Smith observed: “I believe the Lord meant just what he said: that we should be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect. That will not come all at once, but line upon line, and precept upon precept, example upon example, and even then not as long as we live in this mortal life, for we will have to go even beyond the grave before we reach that perfection and shall be like God.

“But here we lay the foundation. Here is where we are taught these simple truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ, in this probationary state, to prepare us for that perfection. It is our duty to be better today than we were yesterday, and better tomorrow than we are today. Why? Because … if we are keeping the commandments of the Lord, we are on that road to perfection, and that can only come through obedience and the desire in our hearts to overcome the world.

“… It is the duty of every man to try to be like his Eternal Father.”⁸

Feelings of inadequacy or anxiety about perfection should not surprise us. Only with the Savior’s help, including the Atonement and Resurrection, will perfection ever be possible. But the marvelous promise is that He can and will help! “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him”
(Moro. 10:32). And Nephi offers this encouragement: “Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life” (2 Ne. 31:20). 

 (Prophetic Enlightenment on the Sermon on the Mount, Ensign Jan 1999 by Jeffrey Marsh, Associate Professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University.)

Well, when He breaks it down like that, maybe perfection doesn't sound so out of reach after all?!

 Mourn? I'm certain I feel bad enough to repent when I mess up - totally!

Poor in spirit? Do I recognize I need Him every hour? Absolutely! (Sometimes every minute - I can be very needy) 

Hunger and thirst after Him? Got It! The more I learn the more I realize how much more I need to learn.

SO there are several of the others I may need to work on (alot), but that's a good start. And I don't need to get it all right today. I just need to keep trying to be a little better each day and to bring my best to Him, no matter how imperfect I might think my best is. That's when my Savior steps in and doesn't just make up the difference of where I think I fall short. That is where he makes ALL the difference.

I think that sounds just about perfect. 

 

 

 

Posted by Sister Montgomery