To be Perfect

In today's society there isn't a strong push to stand up for what is right; instead the direction is moving towards accepting your weaknesses and giving in to your temptations. Morality has become a thing of the past and the sacred union of marriage is being threatened. To the world perfection has thus become the image of a muscular man or slender woman; perhaps the movie star with the glamorous life or the wealthy land owner with riches worth coveting. Not long ago a man giving a sermon on the mount gave us the true definition of what perfection truly is; "be ye therefore perfect as your father which is in heaven is perfect". And again on the American continent he stated to the Nephites "be ye therefore perfect as I or your father which is in heaven is perfect". Even though we believe this man to be perfect from birth Christ considered himself imperfect until he accomplished all his father asked; when speaking to the Nephites he had accomplished all and knew his perfection therefore stating it in his latter sermon. How do we know when we have achieved perfection? Is this something that we can attain in this life? Perfection is as it implies, flawlessness in every aspect of every fibre of our being. Achievable, of course through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. Suppose you lived a flawless life, a perfect, giving, teaching, and unspotted life; you still have an imperfect body: one that gets sick, injured, and can pass on to the next life. Perfection is the entire existence of you soul, your heart, might, mind, and strength; in essence your body. Perfection isn't something we are to look at as unattainable in this life however; we can and must be perfect in that which we can perfect in ourselves. For example we can be perfect in our tithes and offerings, we can be perfect in our home and visiting teaching, we can be perfect in our church callings and attendance, and we can be perfect in study and prayer. There are things we can control; after all we were sent here to learn to control a worldly body with a spiritual soul. Complete opposites trying to push and pull one another in the right direction. Perfection does not happen overnight, and it does not happen when you are converted; perfection is something that happens everyday, every hour, every minute, and every second. When we choose to follow our spirit instead of our mind, when we choose to listen to the still small voice instead of the TV, when we choose to read our scriptures instead of play video games, when we decide to pray before giving in to temptation that is when we are truly growing toward perfection. That is when our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are closest; that is when perfection becomes attainable and the world behind us gets quieter. Stand up for what you believe in and "be ye therefore perfect as your father (and his son) which is in heaven is perfect". "Be Believing", and "Be of Good Cheer" perfection is but a saviors grasp away. Grab hold and never let go.

Becoming Pure

The word of the day is "pure" and I thought this was fitting as I have been wanting to write something about my children the last few days. When I think of them I think innocence or in other words purity. In my opinion children are the root cause of feeling every emotion in an instance. There is no other person you want to laugh at and hold more then the little one you are disciplining right at this time. There is also no other person that will give you a hug and a kiss immediately after you scold them. I have noticed in my life that it takes one word (Whether intended or not) to upset someone; whereas it takes many words (usually intended) and sometimes many days to make up for that one word. Why is it we are so quick to anger and yet so slow to forgive? If we are the ones that get angry after one word we should be the ones to forgive after one word; this is something children have naturally until we teach them otherwise. Jesus taught we must become as a little child; yet we tend to get children to become more like us. When we become as a little child this means we are to inherit or ingrain their wonderful qualities into us; such as humility, teach ability, forgiveness. Children are the essence of purity because they are slow to anger and quick to forgive, they accept what ever we tell them without question, and they love unconditionally. My children have taught me to love more, to forgive often, and to look for the good in everybody. If we as a grown up nation quit acting childish and start acting as a child we will have more unity, more love, and more peace. We will be more pure and in essence have become as a little child.