Sunday Selection: Be Perfected

Note: this post was actually initialized on Sunday, January 18, but I am just now posting it. Some of the thoughts may not have been fleshed out as much as I would have liked.

Today in Church, we had Ward Conference, so we got to hear from some of our leaders. The theme for the conference was from a scripture in the book of Mormon – Moroni 10:32-34. It says, in part:

Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in
him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of
all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is
his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in
Christ;

2 Nephi 25:23 supports this:

For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our
children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to
God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.

We can’t be perfect in this life, but the Lord, by His grace, will “finish up” our perfection AFTER we have done all that we can do to be perfect.

Other supporting scriptures:

Alma 13:6 - We are called to teach others so that they too can be perfected and return to live with God.

Moroni 7:48 - When he appears, we will be like Him, IF we have and pray for the pure love of Christ.

These came from President Voorwahler’s talk in Priesthood.

Glass of water analogy: we fill our glasses with our best effort to a certain level (a certain fraction).

The Lord then fills our glasses with what is missing—what is needed to make it full—AFTER all that we can do.

Other thoughts:

We must strive NOT to be complacent. As we do try to be perfect, we have to remember that there will always be new milestones to achieve. We must endure to the end and not be satisfied with “just” doing what we’ve done. "Enduring to the end" is not JUST accomplishing those initial goals, like getting baptized, going on a mission, going to the temple, etc.