Being Perfect

Back by demand, and hopefully, for more than just a limited time, I've started writing again. The reasons for my absence are various and sundry, but the reasons for my return are two-fold. As I mentioned first, demand. Not popular demand, but demand nevertheless. And second, I had a series of personal revelatory events that I feel strongly I shouldn't ignore. Not that you should ever ignore personal revelation, but in this case, I felt an increased desire to share what my revelation taught me.

So, let's talk about the sequence of events that led me here. Like most people, I struggle with feeling like I'm doing enough. Whether at home, work, church service, or relationships, I find myself getting caught in the trap of comparing my effort to what I perceive are the efforts of others and finding myself coming up short.

The week before Easter we were privileged to listen to what is known in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as General Conference. From a technical standpoint, this is a series of five two-hour sessions in which Church leaders speak and give counsel to Church members. Those that believe in the restored gospel know that it is much deeper than that. It is a time when God speaks to the world through prophets and apostles and other leaders. We learn of His will for us in our day and we believe we can receive our own, personal revelation through the messages shared.

This was my experience as I listened to Elder Vern P. Stanfill give counsel on how the Lord views perfection and what it means to be "perfect in Christ". He made the following statement that resonated deeply with me. "Remember that perfectionism is not the same thing as being perfected in Christ...Becoming perfected in Christ...is the process of becoming more like the Savior". (See here for the full talk).

As I was pondering that statement, I came across a post on Facebook encouraging aspiring authors to not be so critical of their first drafts, It made the statement that all a first draft has to do to be perfect is to exist. We don't care or worry about its faults and flaws, we simply need it to exist. A similar post reminds us the only thing that cannot be edited is a blank page.

We have a tendency in life to forget that no matter our station, accomplishments, knowledge, skills, or talents, we are all works in progress. We discount or dismiss previous progress because we feel like there is still so much left to do, and while it is true that we all have a long way to go, we must not forget the importance of the journey.

A first draft of a story will almost certainly be riddled with spelling and grammatical errors, plot holes, confusing story arcs, poor character development, and a host of other issues, but the draft is still perfect because it perfectly fulfills its purpose. It gives the writer and editors the ability to review it, make revisions, and move on to the next draft, repeating the process until the perfect story is achieved. 

Now I realize the analogy seems to break down a bit when comparing our lives to a draft that needs revision before it becomes the perfect story. It may seem like the perfect story does not exist, but it does. It is often referred to as the greatest story ever told and is celebrated by Christians around the world every Easter.

The Savior is our perfect example and the standard we must follow in writing our own life stories. As we examine our rough drafts and identify what needs to change, we should use His life as our guide. With the Holy Ghost as our trusted editor, we can begin to make changes that gradually shape our lives in Christ's mold. When we accept the invitation to "be ye therefore perfect", we can do so wholeheartedly in spite of our perceived imperfections. We can be perfect in purpose and recognize that our mistakes, faults, and shortcomings are all part of His perfect plan. 

We can truly follow the admonition of the prophet Moroni who said 

"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" - Moroni 10:32

As we give ourselves to Christ and learn to rely on the healing and enabling power of his Atonement, we can be perfect in Him and we can trust that in spite of the trials, heartache, sorrow, and imperfections in our life stories, they will have a happy ending.