"Be ye, therefore, perfect." Matthew 5:48
What a challenge. No...what a commandment! In English, we have sayings that include, but are not limited to, "I'm only human," or more potent and contradictory, "Nobody's perfect." Contentment is the enemy to progression.
The topic of perfection employs the 3 major questions of the soul so many people ask themselves, Christian, Muslim, agnostic, or athiest: where did we come from, why are we here, and where are we going after we die? To many, any one of these to all of them are a mystery, and some convince themselves that the answers aren't important. Some get frustrated in their search for an answer that they give up and claim there was nothing, today has no purpose, and the "end" is just that.
As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we know where we came from. Before our respective births, we resided with God and Jesus Christ in a spiritual state-lacking a body-and learned many things pertaining to living on earth. Skipping our purpose on earth, I remind you that I have commented many times on our destination after our bodies fail. This end potential gives us a purpose in life. In order to reach, in simple terms, the best place, in order to live forever with God and our families, we have to be perfect today. We need to be perfect tomorrow. We were supposed to be perfect yesterday. But how can we be perfect when we settle and justify the things we do because of our "human nature." We are all sons and daughters of God, to be human is not our nature.
There is nothing wrong with seeking perfection. Too often in school, I see classmates get discouraged and give up. They say, "Well, all I need is a B," or they find it humorous when they fail a class or test. Why would you do something without the intent to succeed or at least give it your best. If mediocrity is your best, then so be it, but that doesn't mean content has to settle in.
Now, this can lead to two very negative attitudes. We all know a perfectionist. Anything less than 100% on a test sends them spiraling into depression. We know that person that has to have the best toys. At the other end of the spectrum, there are those that harbor the existential belief, "It doesn't really matter in the end." I believe both of these to be not only wrong, but unhealthy. The former because you will never find happiness; you will only find insufficiency in yourself. The latter is inappropriate because you negate your potential to grow. You deny the power of Christ's atonement through which you can be perfect.
If you're still breathing, there's something you could be working on. There's something new to learn. Seek for correction. Seek for perfection. Rejoice in the little victories, and learn from the worst defeats. We are not alone on our journey to perfection. Christ was perfect, and he can help you become so, also. And, as is put so beautifully in 2 Nephi 25:23 "...And we know it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." Christ's atonement will help us. It will expunge our faults. It will erase our stains. But it will not make us a better person. It gives us the power, but we will not pray and wake up the next morning as a changed person.
After our diligence, after laboring, after all we can do, together with the power of Christ's atonement, we will change, and someday be perfect.
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