You are Latter-day Saint, and disciples
of Jesus Christ, and have a responsibility to strive to be like the Savior. To
be like Christ we have to strive to be perfect. Christ said,” Be ye therefore
perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”(Matthew 5:48)
Perfect is a daunting word that intermediates even the best of us. It somehow
implies that we will never be good enough, that a goal has been placed before
us that we can never reach, but I say that is simply not true. To quote our friend
Nephi from the Book of Mormon, “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 things which he commanded them.” (1 Nephi 3:7) With eight simple
verses, Christ shows us the way that we can accomplish perfections. He makes a
statement of fundamental laws, or in other words gives us a constitution for
perfection, more commonly known as the beatitudes. If we are to be perfect in
Christ, we must subscribe to his declaration which will bring us matchless joy.
The beatitudes noted in the Sermon
on the Mount, are simple in nature, and have the best of consequences for they are
the characters of an exalted person. Beatitude means to be fortunate, to be
happy or to be blessed. In an Institute manual The Life and Teachings of Jesus
and his Apostles, we learn a little more about this kind of happiness. It says
that 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.
It is natural to find happiness when are acted upon in a way that brings us or
others joy, however to achieve the status of blessedness we have to remember
the council found in the scriptures which says that God gave us the ability to
act for ourselves and not merely be acted upon. This means that even in the
face of disparities we can choose to remain happy (regardless of circumstances). (2Nephi 2:16)
The Sermon on the Mount teaches us
to turn from the love of the world to the love of God, and to love our
fellowmen. Beginning with the first beatitude, blessed are the poor in spirit,
we learn a deeper appreciation and love for God. To be poor in spirit doesn’t mean
that we lack a testimony, or struggle in our faith. It means that we have to
have a greater understanding and dependency on our Father in Heaven. We have to
count ourselves among the spiritually needy, remembering that no day should
ever go by without fervent prayer of thanksgiving for all that we receive, want
and need. I am reminded of Doctrine and Covenants 109:8 which says we are to
organize ourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a
house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a
house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.
Another beatitude is blessed are
the meek. To be meek does not imply that you are weak; on the contrary it means
that you are strong enough to exhibit self-control and are not easily provoked,
or irritated and forbearing under injury or annoyance. To be meek means that
you are a man of complete self-mastery and emotional intelligence, and are able
to hold firmly to the iron rod of God even in the face of the worst
adversities. A great example of meekness are the prophets of the Lord. Great
men called to serve as the mouth piece of God both in ancient times and these
latter days.
Blessed are they that hunger and
thirst after righteousness, these are those that seek out all the good in the
world and attribute it to God and use it to build his kingdom. When we hunger
for righteousness it becomes a motivating factory, like a child seeking candy
as a reward to a good deed. It is written in our own Articles of Faith, if
there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek
after these things.
These are just three of the
fundamental laws we must strive to follow if we wish to be perfect even as our
Father in Heaven is perfect. Christ laid these laws before us to observe and
hunger after. As we seek to emulate and poses each Christ like attribute, we
draw ourselves a little closer to Him and Him to us. I know that we can be like
Christ, I know that we can become like God the Father. We are His children and
each of us is loved beyond measure. Let us be poor in spirit, mourn our sins,
be meek, hunger and thirst after righteousness, be pure in heart, be merciful,
be peacemakers, and withstand persecution.
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